A huge piece of Mars called NWA 16 788 will soon go under the hammer at Sotheby’s. It is the largest Martian meteorite known on Earth – it weighs almost 25 kg.
This rare stone ended up on Earth after a powerful collision of an asteroid with Mars. As a result of the impact, the fragment was thrown into space. Millions of years later, it fell into the Earth’s gravitational field and landed in the Sahara Desert, in the Agadez region. A professional meteorite hunter found it in 2023.
There are more than 77,000 meteorites registered in the world, but only about 400 of them are from Mars. And NWA 16 788 is the largest of them, which makes it especially valuable.
The auction will be held on July 16, 2025, as part of the scientific week “Geek Week”. The price of the lot has already exceeded $ 1.9 million, although the bidding is still ongoing. The final price is expected to significantly exceed the stated upper estimate of $4 million.
