AN ENIGMATIC COMPLETE END PIECE OF NWA 1878

Lot 63
06.04.2022 14:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 2 520
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 737552
Lot 63 | AN ENIGMATIC COMPLETE END PIECE OF NWA 1878
Estimate value
£ 1 500 – 2 500
A large metallic nodule dominates the piece, which has been etched.

Mesosiderites are a class of stony-iron meteorites that consist of roughly equal parts of metallic nickel-iron and silicate. There are only six mesosiderites with the designation of class B. Unlike pallasites, which formed at the boundary of the stony mantle and molten core of an asteroid that was later disrupted by a collision, the formation of mesosiderites is less well understood. One leading model is that this material formed when the semi-molten core of one asteroid collided with the solidified basalt-strewn surface of a larger asteroid. This specimen appears to have been collisionally melted after it formed; coagulated metal nodules were surrounded by silicate-rich melt.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.
90 mm x 55 mm x 20 mm (31/2 x 21/8 x 3/4)
164g.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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23.03.2022 – 06.04.2022
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