On July 17, 2013 an extremely bright fireball was seen at approximately 11 p.m. in both Tindouf and Aum el Assel, Algeria. The next morning meteorite hunters from the Sahrawi refugee camps of Tindouf ventured into the Sahara in search of the meteorite. These men did not have the tools of their Western counterparts. There were no Doppler Radar reports, nor an array of SkyCams that could assist them in triangulating the location of the fall. Given the fragmentation of the fireball, the hunters were certain that meteorites were on the ground — but where? After hundreds of square miles had been canvassed over a period of months, the meteorite could not be found. There were, however, consolation prizes that kept the searchers motivated: many other meteorites were discovered during the course of this search, including a strewn field of Martian meteorites now known as NWA 8656. In April 2014, fully nine months after the search commenced, in an area that had been randomly canvassed just prior to the fireball, the strewn field was finally located. Preserved by the Sahara, numerous stones with fresh black fusion crust were recovered from the tan desert sands. The leader of the meteorite-hunting expedition wrote, “The men were so happy. The joy we had was nearly the same as what water brings when the need is most desperate…our finding this was not by chance, but the result of hard continuous work, and it is our endless passion for discovery which makes us free men.”

Eucrites are volcanic rocks from outer space and there are only two unbrecciated eucrite witnessed falls, a highly desirable feature because the lack of brecciation (the mixing of different rock types) permits scientists to avoid confusion associated with a combination of materials.

Scientific evidence indicates that this sample — and nearly all howardites, eucrites and diogenites (“HED” meteorites) — originate from the asteroid Vesta, the second largest asteroid in the solar system. They arrived on Earth as a result of another asteroid having slammed into Vesta and launching material off its surface into Earth-crossing orbits. NASA’s DAWN spacecraft orbited Vesta in 2011 and provided confirming evidence that Vesta is the parent body of HED meteorites.

Exceedingly fresh, this meteorite is covered in pristine glossy fusion crust except for the fractured face which provides a view of the creamy natural matrix, i.e., material not altered by frictional heating during its descent through Earth’s atmosphere. Vitreous plagioclase laths, pigeonite grains and abundant bronze-colored sulfides abound. The micrograph Aouinet Legraa by Neil Buckland is not part of this lot. A large format image of Aouinet Legraa is featured in lot 58. There is no terrestrial deformation or alteration. From the asteroid Vesta, this is an exceedingly rare unbrecciated eucrite.

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

48 x 25 x 29mm (2 x 1 x 1 in.) and 50.06 grams