JIKHARRA 001 — MASSIVE METEORITE FROM THE ASTEROID VESTA - photo 1
JIKHARRA 001 — MASSIVE METEORITE FROM THE ASTEROID VESTA - photo 2
JIKHARRA 001 — MASSIVE METEORITE FROM THE ASTEROID VESTA - photo 3
JIKHARRA 001 — MASSIVE METEORITE FROM THE ASTEROID VESTA - photo 4

JIKHARRA 001 — MASSIVE METEORITE FROM THE ASTEROID VESTA

Lot 68
28.03.2023 11:00UTC -05:00
Classic
Starting price
$ 200 000
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUSA, New York
Archive
The auction is completed. No bids can be placed anymore.
Archive
ID 927059
Lot 68 | JIKHARRA 001 — MASSIVE METEORITE FROM THE ASTEROID VESTA
Estimate value
$ 300 000 – 500 000
Vesta, the second largest asteroid in our solar system, is the only asteroid which can be seen with the naked eye. Covered in basalt (volcanic rock), it’s a differentiated asteroid (it has a crust, mantle and core; also referred to as a protoplanet). In early solar system history there were numerous protoplanets, but all, except Vesta, experienced catastrophic fragmentation and the asteroid belt hosts the majority of their remains.

Eucrites are named for the Greek eukritos meaning easily distinguished — and indeed they are. A good deal of evidence pointed to the surface and upper crust of Vesta as the source of eucritic meteorites, making eucrites among the only meteorite types to have a "return address". Reams of data transmitted from NASA’s Dawn spacecraft which orbited Vesta in 2011 and 2012 supported this conclusion.

2022 was a banner year for Vesta on Earth when the second largest shower of any stone meteorite on record was discovered. Named Jikharra 001, it is nearly an order of magnitude more plentiful than the previously most abundant eucrite. Its total weight of more than 3 tons seems like a lot, but meteorites are rare and typically dense; every bit of this new discovery could fit in the back of a Chevy Silverado.

The five largest chunks of Vesta on Earth are all part of the Jikharra 001 event and the specimen now offered is the fourth largest piece of Vesta known — apart from Vesta itself. Billions of years ago a massive impact on Vesta ejected a massive amount of this asteroid into interplanetary space, a bit of which entered an Earth-crossing orbit in a journey lasting millions of years.

Jikharra 001 is a melt breccia composed of large clasts of calcic plagioclase and pigeonite suspended in recrystallized shock melt. A core sample of this specimen was removed for scientific analysis by a team lead by Dr. Anthony Irving, among the most celebrated meteorite classification experts in the world. This specimen is able to freely rotate on the steel post on which it is mounted. The largest specimens of the Moon and Mars on Earth are far less massive than this specimen of Jikharra 001. Accompanied by a custom pedestal, this the 5th largest extraterrestrial object on Earth (the 3rd largest which can be privately owned) that originates from a parent body one can actually see with the naked eye.

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.

(Image 4, the view of Vesta, not part of the lot. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCAL/MPS/DLR/IDA).

515 x 529 x 327mm (20.33 x 20.75 x 13 in.) and 116.15 kg (255 lbs).
Category:Meteorite
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
20 Rockefeller Plaza
10020 New York
USA
Preview
28.03.2023
27.03.2023
Phone +1 212 636 2000
Fax +1 212 636 4930
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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