A bidder right here on Earth will quickly shell out loads of inexperienced for a bit of the crimson planet as Sotheby’s places a Martian meteorite up for public sale.
NWA 16788, the most important piece of Mars on Earth, is predicted to fetch as much as $4 million through the July 16 public sale in New York Metropolis, in response to Sotheby’s. Items of Mars discovered on Earth are uncommon. In keeping with the public sale home, simply 400 of the greater than 77,000 formally acknowledged meteorites discovered on Earth — or about 0.6% — are from Mars. The meteorite represents roughly 6.5% of all Martian materials at present recognized on Earth.
Meteorites come from meteors, house rocks that enter Earth’s ambiance. Most meteors deplete as they fall towards Earth, however the ones that survive the journey by means of Earth’s ambiance are thought-about meteorites. The chunk of Martian rock being auctioned off by Sotheby’s was seemingly dislodged from the planet by an asteroid strike.
The most important ever Martian meteorite is on view for the primary time at Sotheby’s earlier than an public sale on July 8, 2025, in New York Metropolis. The rock is predicted to fetch as much as $4 million as the most important chunk of Mars on Earth.
Selcuk Acar/Anadolu by way of Getty Pictures
NWA 16788 traveled 140 million miles by means of house earlier than it crashed within the Sahara Desert, the place it was present in Niger’s distant Agadez Area in 2023, in response to Sotheby’s.
“The odds of this getting from there to here are astronomically small,” Cassandra Hatton, Sotheby’s vice chairman of science and pure historical past, stated in an public sale home video.
The meteorite weighs simply over 54 kilos, which makes it the most important meteorite from Mars, however not the most important meteorite ever discovered. In keeping with NASA, a meteorite initially weighing over 100 tons as soon as fell to Namibia.
It’s believed that NWA 16788 is a “relative newcomer here on Earth, having fallen from outer space rather recently,” Sotheby’s stated in its public sale itemizing. The meteorite is on public view at Sotheby’s New York galleries till July 15.
“This isn’t just a miraculous find, but a massive dataset that can help us unlock the secrets of our neighbor, the red planet,” Hatton stated within the public sale home video.
Sotheby’s often auctions meteorites.
“Specimens of the Moon and Mars are among the greatest of rarities on our planet — as every bit of both would fit in the cargo hold of a large SUV,” the public sale home wrote in a 2022 collector’s information.
