A 54-pound (25-kilogram) rock is being offered for sale, with an estimated auction price ranging from $2 million to $4 million. This hefty price tag is attributed to the fact that it is the largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth. Sotheby's in New York has announced that the meteorite, known as NWA 16788, will be auctioned off on Wednesday as part of a sale centered around natural history. The auction includes other remarkable items, such as a juvenile Ceratosaurus dinosaur skeleton that stands over 6 feet tall and measures nearly 11 feet in length.
According to the auction house, this meteorite is thought to have been dislodged from Mars by a massive asteroid impact. It has travelled approximately 140 million miles to Earth, where it landed in the Sahara Desert. A meteorite hunter discovered it in Niger in November 2023.
Largest known piece of Mars
Sotheby's reports that the rock, characterised by its red, brown, and gray colors, is about 70 per cent larger than the next largest known piece of Mars and constitutes nearly 7 per cent of all Martian material found on Earth. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches. Cassandra Hatton, the vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby's, remarked in an interview that this Martian meteorite is significantly larger than any previous finds, being over double the size of what was once considered the largest piece of Mars.
Rare collectible
The meteorite is indeed a rare collectible, with only 400 Martian meteorites among more than 77,000 officially recognised meteorites discovered on Earth. Hatton mentioned that a small sample was removed and analyzed at a specialized lab, which confirmed its Martian origin by comparing its chemical composition to those of Martian meteorites identified during the Viking space probe's landing on Mars in 1976.
Formed from gradual cooling of Magma
The analysis revealed that the meteorite is classified as an 'olivine-microgabbroic shergottite'. It is a type of Martian rock that forms from the gradual cooling of Martian magma. It features a coarse-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine. The meteorite’s glassy surface likely resulted from the intense heat it experienced while entering Earth’s atmosphere, which was an initial indication that it was not merely a large terrestrial rock.
Prior to the auction, the meteorite had been on display at the Italian Space Agency in Rome. Sotheby's did not disclose the identity of its owner. The exact timing of its impact with Earth remains uncertain, however, testing suggests that it occurred relatively recently.
Juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton
In addition to the meteorite, the auction features a juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton. It was unearthed in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, which is known as a rich source of dinosaur fossils. Specialists have assembled nearly 140 fossil bones, along with some sculpted materials, to recreate the skeleton, which Sotheby's states is ready for exhibition. This skeleton is believed to date back to the late Jurassic period, around 150 million years ago, and has an auction estimate of $4 million to $6 million.
Ceratosaurus dinosaurs are known to have been bipedal with relatively short arms. They resembled a smaller version of the Tyrannosaurus rex. While Ceratosaurus could grow up to 25 feet in length, T. rex specimens could reach up to 40 feet.
This particular skeleton was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a fossil preparation and mounting company based in Utah. The auction, scheduled for Wednesday, is a part of Sotheby's Geek Week 2025 and features a total of 122 items, including several other meteorites, fossils, and gem-quality minerals.
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