CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE — MASSIVE SPHERE

Lot 51
06.04.2022 14:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 18 900
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 737540
Lot 51 | CAMPO DEL CIELO METEORITE — MASSIVE SPHERE
Estimate value
£ 50 000 – 80 000
Massive polished and etched sphere -- one of the largest ever made. Revealing in three dimensions the robust crystalline fingerprint in a perspective not available when viewing a flat surface.

Campo del Cielo (“Valley of the Sky”) meteorites are the result of a cataclysmic collision between two asteroids in interplanetary space. The Campo parent asteroid shattered with massive sections being ejected into interplanetary space.  When a large fragment later struck Earth’s upper atmosphere about 4,000 years ago, the result was further explosive fragmentation into thousands of meteorites. The larger meteorites struck the ground at such a high velocity that an array of more than 20 impact craters formed, the largest measuring nearly a football field in diameter. This meteorite, while far smaller, looms large: it was formed by a large impact onto an asteroid located between Jupiter and Mars. Spanish Conquistadors in Argentina were the first to document the meteorites in the 16th Century, but never for an instant considered their extraterrestrial origin.

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.
180 mm diameter
26.9kg.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
23.03.2022 – 06.04.2022
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

?>