Lunar meteorite / lunar anorthositeSahara Desert

There are two dominant lithologies in the lunar sample. The dominant lithology is a light-gray breccia. The darker lithology of lunar regolith contains fragments of white to light gray-hued clasts. A complete specimen was split in half to result in this offering in the desire to reveal this specimen's internal matrix, which is now highly polished. Somewhat bowling pin-shaped, the interior surface of this anorthosite breccia is brighter and more robust than its sandy-hued, curved exterior surface, the result of terrestrial tinting from its residency in the Sahara Desert. This is a captivating palm-sized piece of the Moon. Modern cutting.
97 x 35 x 6 mm. (3.75 x 1.33 x 0.25 in.)

31.1 g.

Material from the Moon is among the rarest substances on Earth, and now offered is an end piece of a lunar meteorite: a Moon rock ejected from the lunar surface following an asteroid impact. Lunar meteorites are identified by specific textural, mineralogical, chemical and isotopic signatures. There are now only 600 kg of lunar meteorites known to exist and a significant fraction are controlled by governmental institutions. Many of the common minerals found on Earth’s surface are rare or absent on the Moon and some lunar minerals are unknown on Earth. While Apollo astronauts returned with 382 kg of Moon rocks, not one milligram is available for private ownership. In fact, the total amount of the Moon that is available to the private sector can be contained in four footlockers. NWA 12695 (provisional) was discovered in the Sahara Desert. As described by Dr. Carl Agee, Director of the Institute of Meteoritics and a NASA researcher, the dominant lithology of NWA 12695 is primarily lunar anorthosite with approximately 90-95% plagioclase with minor amounts of olivine, pyroxene, and ilmenite. The minor lithology is a fragmental breccia of primarily plagioclase, olivine, and pyroxene.

The opposite end piece of this specimen will be on display at the Maine Mineral and Gem Museum.

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.