COMPLETE LUNAR SLICE OF RABT SBAYTA 006 - photo 1

COMPLETE LUNAR SLICE OF RABT SBAYTA 006

Lot 6
06.04.2022 14:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
£ 12 600
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 737495
Lot 6 | COMPLETE LUNAR SLICE OF RABT SBAYTA 006
Estimate value
£ 5 000 – 8 000
Comprised of large fragments of white feldspathic clasts with lesser fragmental pyroxene and olivine clasts in a dark gray shock-melted matrix. Gazing into the black, white, and gray mixture of fragments resembles a look into deep space. This slice is exquisitely prepared, polished on both sides.

Found in 2016 near Rio de Oro, Gataa Sfar, Western Sahara, this meteorite weighed 4.81 kilograms before being cut. The meteorite is classified as a lunar feldspathic breccia. It was blasted off the lunar surface long ago as the result of a large asteroid impact. This slice is large, exhibiting several vesicles formed during impacts when the material would have been in a molten state on the lunar surface.
For anyone wanting a good example of a lunar meteorite for display, this is it.

The Moon is among the rarest substances on Earth with only 750 kilograms of lunar meteorites known to exist. Now offered is a complete sphere fashioned from a Moon rock ejected from the lunar surface following an asteroid impact. Moon rocks are identified by specific textural, mineralogical, chemical and isotopic signatures. Many of the common minerals found on Earth’s surface are rare or absent on the Moon and some lunar minerals are unknown on Earth. In addition, Moon rocks contain gases captured from the solar wind with isotope ratios very different from the same gases found on Earth. Every lunar meteorite known could be contained in just five footlockers, and a significant fraction is controlled by governmental institutions. Not one milligram of Apollo material is available for private ownership.

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.
140 mm x 115 mm x 2mm (51/2 x 41/2 x 1/8 in.)
82g.
Category:Meteorite
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
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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