Spectacular End Piece of a Rock from Mars – Plateau du Tademait 008 - photo 1
Spectacular End Piece of a Rock from Mars – Plateau du Tademait 008 - photo 2

Spectacular End Piece of a Rock from Mars – Plateau du Tademait 008

Lot 20
12.12.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
To bid, go to the website
CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1353348
Lot 20 | Spectacular End Piece of a Rock from Mars – Plateau du Tademait 008
Estimate value
£ 25 000 – 35 000
Mars Rock – SNC, olivine-phyric shergottite
138 x 135 x 13mm

Unusually fresh and highly captivating: a choice end piece of a Mars rock.

Similar to lot 19 but far larger, both of these specimens originate from the same Mars rock found in the Sahara Desert. Among the most exotic substances on Earth, there is less than 400kg of Mars on Earth known to exist. The delivery mechanism to Earth was an asteroid impact on Mars that ejected material off the Martian surface into an Earth-crossing orbit. The determination of Martian origin is the result of research conducted by hundreds of scientists throughout the world who identify the specific chemical and isotopic markers common to Martian specimens.

The history of the determination of Martian origin fascinates. It had been long believed that an exotic group of meteorites were likely to be specimens of Mars or Venus as they contained minerals evidencing water alteration, a planetary-sized gravitational field on their crystalline structures as well as other planetary markers. These rare meteorites were believed to be from Mars as Venus is much larger and has a stronger gravitational field as well as a thicker atmosphere so far more energy would be necessary to eject Venusian rocks into space than off Mars. And then there was the smoking gun: it was announced that this exotic class of meteorites often contained glassy mineral inclusions, and within the inclusions are tiny vugs, and it was discovered within these voids were minute amounts of gas. The gas was analyzed and was found to match perfectly with the signature of the Martian atmosphere as reported by NASA’s Viking missions in the late 1970s.

Meteorites are named after the places where they are recovered and this end piece was cut from a single small rock found in the Plateau du Tademait region near Adrar, Algeria. The 008 suffix indicates this was the eighth meteorite to be found and classified from the area. Weighing only 2.4 kilograms, this strange looking stone was recovered by Algerian meteorite hunters in the Sahara and was purchased in 2022. Its Martian classification was performed by a team led by Dr. Carl Agee, among the world’s foremost experts in the classification of Martian and lunar meteorites.

The exterior surface of this exceedingly fresh end piece features black patches of fusion crust, an artifact which resulted from its fiery entry through Earth’s atmosphere. When cut and polished, numerous pale green olivine phenocrysts up to ~1 cm in diameter that poikilitically enclose smaller pyroxene grains are much in evidence. The groundmass consists of dark gray pyroxene and olivine grains. In terms of modal abundances, its composition is 50% clinopyroxene, 25% olivine, 10% maskelynite — the impact glass which is unknown to occur on Earth except in meteorites and which contains minute samples of Martian atmosphere — with accessory ilmenite, chromite, Ti-Cr spinel, and pyrite. Modern cutting.
284.5 grams
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
28.11.2024 – 12.12.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

Related terms

Frequently asked questions

First of all, you should register to be able to purchase at auction. After confirming your email address, enter your personal information in your user profile, such as your first name, last name, and mail address. Choose a lot from the upcoming auction and the maximum amount you want to place on it. After confirmation of your choice, we will send your application by e-mail to the appropriate auction house. If the auction house accepts a request, it will participate in the auction. You can view the current status of a bid at any time in your personal account in the "Bids" section.
Auctions are performed by auction houses and each of the auction houses describes their terms of auction. You can see the texts in the section "Auction information".
The results of the auction are published within a few days after the end of the auction. In the top menu of the site, find the tab "Auctions". Click on it and you will be on the auction catalog page, where you can easily find the category "Results". After opening it, select the desired auction from the list, enter and view the current status of the interested lot.
The information about the auction winners is confidential. The auction winner will receive a direct notification from the auction house responsible with instructions for further action: an invoice for payment and the manner in which the goods will be received.
Each of the auction houses has its own payment policy for the won lots. All auction houses accept bank transfers, most of them accept credit card payments. In the near future you will find detailed information for each case in the section "Auction information" on the page of the auction catalog and the lot.
Shipment of the won lot depends on its size. Small items can be delivered by post. Larger lots are sent by courier. Employees of the auction houses will offer you a wide range to choose from.
No. The archive serves as a reference for the study of auction prices, photographs and descriptions of works of art.
?>