You’ll need a boatload of cash, but this rock will give you serious bragging rights.
One-half of 1 percent of all meteorites that have been found on Earth have come from Mars.
Credit: NASA
- NWA 16788 is the largest Martian meteorite ever found.
- It weighs 54.388 pounds and is composed of olivine, pyroxene, and a fusion crust.
- Only about 400 Martian meteorites have ever been discovered.
- This is a very significant find.
Sotheby’s in New York will be auctioning the largest martian meteorite ever found on Earth on Wednesday as part of a natural history-themed sale. Known as NWA 16788, it was found in Niger in November 2023 by a meteorite hunter.
The meteorite, which is red, brown, and gray in color, measures 15 by 11 by 6 inches (37.5 by 27.9 by 152 centimeters). It weighs an amazing 54.388 pounds (24.67 kilograms).
This specimen is about 70 percent larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7 percent of all the martian material currently on this planet. And this stone is rare for another reason: Only 400 martian meteorites have been found out of the more than 77,000 officially recognized meteorites.
Examination of a small piece of this meteorite showed that it is an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite, a type of martian rock formed from the slow cooling of martian magma. It has a course-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine. It also has a glassy surface known as a fusion crust. This feature develops as the meteorite encounters high temperatures as it fell through Earth’s atmosphere.
Tomorrow’s auction is part of Sotheby’s Geek Week 2025 and features 122 items, including other meteorites, fossils, and gem-quality minerals.
Oh, and lest I forget: The auction estimate for NWA 16788 is between $2 and $4 million. You can register to bid here.
