Sotheby's will auction a chunk of rock believed to be from Mars, named NWA 16788, for $2-4 million. This 54-pound meteorite was found in Northern Niger and is classified as an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite. It features maskelynite, created by extreme conditions, and is noted for its reddish-brown fusion crust and surface regmaglypts. This meteorite represents a rare piece of Martian geology, with only 400 known Mars-origin meteorites out of over 77,000 cataloged. Lab tests are confirming its origins.
NWA 16788 is thought to be the biggest piece of the red planet present here on Earth. The reddish hunk of rock was discovered by a meteorite hunter in the remote sand dunes of Northern Niger in November 2023.
The meteorite weighs 54 pounds and contains a kind of glass known as maskelynite, which forms when feldspar in the rock was exposed to extreme pressure and heat, likely from an asteroid impact.
Based on its condition and lack of weathering, NWA 16788 appears to be a relative newcomer to planet Earth, found not long after it traveled through space to the Sahara.
NWA 16788 is covered in a reddish-brown fusion crust giving it an unmistakable Martian hue. Regmaglypts... are also visible on the surface of the meteorite.
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