CHONDRITE — H5 (PROVISIONAL) SAHARA DESERT / MOROCCO

A LARGE DECORATIVE METEORITE — NWA 11215

The large stone meteorite now offered, NWA 11215 was found in the Sahara less than six months ago and was later acquired from a Moroccan meteorite dealer. It was analyzed by one of the world’s foremost and prolific classifiers of meteorites, Dr. Anthony Irving at the University of Washington.

Originating from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter, NWA 11215 is covered in a high-glass natural desert varnish, smooth fusion crust and regmaglypts (thumbprints), which form as a meteorite undergoes frictional surficial melting while burning through Earth’s atmosphere. This meteorite also features secondary fusion crust. The result of an upper atmospheric air-break, the character of the broken surface remains evident and the fusion crust is not as smooth as the thicker primary crust; there simply wasn’t enough time for primary crust to form on the freshly broken surface before the meteorite was slowed by atmospheric drag and experienced freefall during the final leg of its journey to Earth.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue note.