New York to auction largest known piece of Mars on Earth | World News

At first glance, it might seem like just a hefty chunk of rock. But this 54-pound specimen is unlike anything else on Earth, because it’s not from Earth at all! It’s the largest known piece of Mars ever discovered here, and it’s heading under an auction at Sothe’s in New York.
Named NWA 16788, this meteorite is believed to have been blasted off Mars a colossal asteroid impact, hurtled 140 million miles through space, and finally landed in the Sahara Desert. It was discovered a meteorite hunter in Niger in November 2023, reported AP citing Sothe’s.
“This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found a long shot,” said Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural hory at Sothe’s. “So it’s more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars.”
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Measuring nearly 15 inches 11 inches 6 inches, this red, brown, and grey chunk is around 70% larger than the second-biggest known Martian meteorite. It alone accounts for nearly 7% of all Martian material ever found on Earth.
Estimated at -4 million, is displayed at Sothe’s, in New York. (AP Photo)
How rare is a Martian meteorite?
Sothe’s notes, as per AP, that there are only about 400 confirmed Martian meteorites among the 77,000+ meteorites officially recognised on Earth.
To confirm its extraterrestrial origin, a small piece was sent to a special lab and compared with the chemical fingerprint established NASA’s Viking probe, which landed on Mars in 1976. The results were conclusive: the rock is an olivine-microgabbroic shergottite, a slowly cooled Martian magma type filled with pyroxene and olivine crystals.

Its glassy surface hints at the fiery entry it endured while hurtling through Earth’s atmosphere.Story continues below this ad
Expected to fetch between $2 million and $4 million, this meteorite leads a collection of 122 items in Sothe’s Geek Week 2025 natural hory-themed sale.
The lot also includes a juvenile Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeleton, a dinosaur measuring over 6 feet tall and nearly 11 feet long. As for the Mars rock, its journey may have spanned millions of years and millions of miles, but its final stop may be a collector’s cabinet, unless a museum or research institution steps wins the bid.
(With inputs from AP)