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

This slice was cut from the main mass of NWA 13885 (following lot). Among the most exotic substances on Earth, there are less than 300 kg (650 lbs) of Mars on Earth known to exist. 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.

In 1995, a historic scientific study was published in Science entitled “Signatures of the Martian Atmosphere in Glass of the Zagami Meteorite”.

It was long believed that an exotic group of meteorites were likely to be specimens of Mars, and it was in 1983 that proof started rolling in. Minute amounts of gas were found in tiny glassy inclusions of a suspected Martian meteorite. 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. (A large format microscopic image of NWA 13885 is featured in lot 52). The exterior rim contains camel-hued highlights, an artifact from the Sahara which bonded with the outer surface of the meteorite from which this superior slice of a Mars rock originated, which is offered in the next lot. Modern cutting.

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.

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.

133 x 91 x 2mm (5.25 x 3.5 x 0.1 in.) and 67.88 grams