Mars Rock – SNC, shergottite; Sahara Desert, North West Africa

This slice was cut from the main mass of the Martian meteorite NWA 13885. Among the most exotic substances on Earth, there are less than 350 kg (800 lbs) of Mars on Earth known to exist — every bit of which could fit into a refrigerator/freezer found in a home. The delivery mechanism to Earth was an asteroid impact on Mars that ejected material off the Martian surface that found its way 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 idiosyncratic chemical and isotopic markers common to Martian specimens.

It had long been believed that an exotic group of meteorites were likely to be planetary in origin and most likely specimens of Mars, and then researchers provided the smoking gun in 1983. Minute amounts of gas were found in tiny glassy inclusions of suspected Martian meteorites. The gas was analyzed and found to match perfectly with the signature of the Martian atmosphere as reported by NASA’s Viking missions.

The cut and polished surface of NWA 13885 reveals coarse crystals with orange-brown olivine phenocrysts set in a light green-brown groundmass. Prominent veins of shock melt are in evidence. This meteorite is primarily composed of pyroxene, olivine, ilmenite, chromite, troilite — the last of which is extremely rare on Earth — and the impact glass maskelynite, which is unknown to occur on Earth except in meteorites. The exterior rim contains camel-hued highlights, an artifact from the Sahara which bonded with the outer surface of the meteorite. Modern cutting.

The analysis of this meteorite was led by Dr. Carl Agee, whose findings underwent peer review by the Nomenclature Committee of the Meteoritical Society. The analysis and classification was published in the 110th edition of the Meteoritical Bulletin — the official registry of meteorites.

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.

125 x 77 x 3mm (5 x 3 x 0.1 in.) and 66.86 grams