For those looking for an accessory a little out of this world, an auction house has an amazing offer: meteorites.
In an online fair, Christie’s auction house is showcasing a package of celestial materials, including samples from the moon and Mars, as well as iron dragons and rocks containing gemst stones.
Meteorites are small natural objects from space that survive their way through Earth’s atmosphere and land on the surface – and while some samples are kept in museums, 75 are on sale this month as part of “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites auction.
The collection includes an image made up of 7-billion-year-old stardust – a stone meteorite with a guide to find its way to Earth in an unusual way.
The auction includes this sample, which contains gemst stones, estimated at $ 3,500 – $ 4,500, from Xinjiang. Credit: Christie’s
Unlike most other meteorites, this one did not fall or turn as it fell to Earth and instead maintained a steady direction as it fell, according to Christie’s. Weighing nearly 16 lbs., The stone, which is estimated to sell for $ 50,000-80,000, has distinctive, distinctive markings on the opposite side of the Earth.
Also for sale is a globe formed from the meteoritic heart of a broken Swedish asteroid. Credit: Christie’s
“Everyone has an image of what a meteorite should look like – an outer body sensitively heated as it punctuates through the Earth’s atmosphere,” said James Hyslop , Christie ‘s head of science and natural history. “Things that survive this fire escape are rarely like that kind of sharedness seen in this meteorite,” he said.
Meteorite gibeon, sold for about $ 15,000 – $ 25,000 Credit: Christie’s
Also on sale is a cross-section of Martian rock, with planetary air bubbles locked inside the slice, estimated at $ 30,000-50,000. Vendors are also offering a sample of meteorite sludge from the largest meteorite shower in the U.S., in Odessa, Texas, which retailers expect to receive $ 60,000, along with a globe created from a meteoritic core of a broken Swedish asteroid, which could sell for $ 18,000.
But not all of the items dictate celestial prices – some of the other products have a reserved tag starting at $ 250 for the auction, which starts on February 9th.