For Sale: A 54 pound (25 kg) rock. Estimated auction price: $2 million to $4 million. Why is it so expensive? This is the largest Mars found on Earth.
As part of a natural history-themed sale, Sotheby’s, New York, will auction NWA 16788 on Wednesday, which also includes a teenager’s Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton, which is more than 6 feet (2 meters) tall, nearly 11 feet (2 meters) long and up to 11 feet (3 meters).
According to the auction house, the meteorite is believed to have been blown away Mars surface Heading to Earth for 125 million miles (225 million kilometers) through a massive asteroid strike, crashing into the Sahara Desert. Sotheby’s said a meteorite hunter found it in Niger in November 2023.
The large red, brown and gray chunks are about 70% more than Mars on the next Earth, accounting for nearly 7% of all Mars materials currently on this planetSotheby’s said. It measures nearly 15″ x 11″ x 6″ (375mm x 279mm x 152mm).
“This Martian meteorite is the largest Mars we have ever seen,” Sotheby’s vice-chairman of Science and Natural History Cassandra Hatton said in an interview. “So, it’s more than twice as big as we previously thought it was.”
This is also a rare discovery. Only 400 Mars meteorite Sotheby’s said that of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites found on Earth, Sotheby’s said.
Hatton said a small portion of the red planet’s residue was removed and sent to a dedicated lab that confirmed it was Mars. She said it compares to the unique chemical composition of Martian meteorites found in Viking space probes that landed on Mars in 1976.
The exam found that this is a kind of “peridot-microkeletal sugar yeast”, a Martian rock formed by the slow cooling of Martian magma. Sotheby’s said it has a curriculum-element texture and contains mineral pyroxene and peridot.
Hatton said it also has a glass surface, which could be due to the high temperatures that burn when it drops in the Earth’s atmosphere. “This is their first clue, it’s not just the big rocks on the ground,” she said.
The meteorite was previously exhibited at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby’s did not disclose the owner.
Sotheby’s said it’s not clear when the meteorite hit Earth, but testing suggests it could have happened in recent years.
In 1996, in Laramie, Wyoming, the nasal bone bone of juvenile ceratosaurus, a gold mine for dinosaur bones, was found near Laramie, Bone Cabin Quarry. Sotheby’s said experts assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some carved materials to recreate the bone and install it in order to show it.
The bones are believed to be from the late Jurassic periodSotheby’s said about 150 million years ago. The auction is estimated to be between $4 million and $6 million.
Ceratosaurus dinosaur is a pair of arms that looks similar to Tyrannosaurusbut smaller. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs can grow to 25 feet (7.6 meters) in length, while the Tyrannosaurs Rex can grow to 40 feet (12 meters).
The bones were acquired by Utah’s fossil preparation and installation company Cossilogic last year.
Wednesday’s auction is part of Sotheby’s Geek Week 2025, which includes 122 items, including other meteorites, fossils and gem-quality minerals.
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Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut.
