The crystalline latticework of a Campo del Cielo meteorite is revealed to spectacular effect in what is a true extraterrestrial crystal ball. Accented with inclusions of schreibersite, large grains of kamacite and taenite are conspicuously in evidence. This sphere originates from a Campo del Cielo meteorite sample that underwent a number of stages of cutting, grinding and polishing in a sphere-making apparatus.
55 mm. (2 in.) in diameter.

719.7 g. (1.5 lbs.)

One of the largest meteorite showers ever documented is the Campo del Cielo event over what is now Argentina. It occurred approximately 6,000 years ago. When the large Campo del Cielo meteoroid hit Earth’s upper atmosphere 6,000 years ago, the pressure caused it to explode into thousands of pieces, creating a spectacular meteorite shower. Several of the pieces weighed more than a ton and reside today in many of the world’s most famous museums. As the vast majority of iron meteorites are prosaically shaped, an opportunity exists to showcase the internal crystalline splendor of meteorites that are part of a large meteorite shower by fashioning slices, cubes and spheres. When revealed in three-dimensions, the crystalline structure of an iron meteorite is mesmerizing. Different groups of meteorites have different patterns (see lots 2, 10 & 34). The Campo crystalline fingerprint seen here is referred to as being “coarse octahedral”, and is specific to those meteorites in the IAB group.

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.