Particle.news
Download on the App Store
8 ARTICLES
·
2d ago

54-Pound Martian Meteorite Garners $1.6 Million in Pre-Auction Bids at Sotheby’s

On display in New York through July 15 with bidding at $1.6 million ahead of its July 16 sale

A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A Martian meteorite, weighing 54.388 lbs. (24.67 kg), said to be the largest piece of Mars on Earth, estimated at $2 - 4 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
A mounted Juvenile Ceratosaurus skeleton, of the Late Jurassic, Kimmeridgian Stage, approximately 154-149 million years ago, estimated at $4 - 6 million, is displayed at Sotheby's, in New York, Wednesday, July 9, 2025, part of their Geek Week auction, July 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
Image

Overview

  • NWA 16788 weighs 54 pounds and ranks as the largest known Martian meteorite on Earth, comprising nearly 7% of all such material.
  • Laboratory analysis identified it as an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite by matching its chemical signature with NASA’s Viking probe samples.
  • Discovered in Niger in November 2023 and previously displayed in Rome, the specimen is accessible to the public in New York through July 15.
  • Sotheby’s Geek Week auction on July 16 estimates its sale at $2–4 million, with remote bidding options open to collectors worldwide.
  • Scientists, including a University of Edinburgh paleontologist, have urged its acquisition by a public institution to preserve research access and display.