Items Similar to A Piece of Mars - Martian Meteorite
Video Loading
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
A Piece of Mars - Martian Meteorite
About the Item
MARTIAN STONE - NWA 14713
Lherzolitic shergottite
127 g
“This 127-gram fragment of the NWA 14713 meteorite displays a green-black mottled exterior. The rock is a martian shergottite (a basalt) composed mainly of coarse grains of pyroxene as well as calcium-plagioclase glass. This glass, called maskelynite, formed from crystalline plagioclase when the specimen was blasted off the surface of Mars by an energetic collision. There are currently less than 350 known martian meteorites with an aggregate weight of only a few hundred kilograms.”
Dr Alan E. Rubin, PhD Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UCLA
Ejected from Mars by an enormous impact, this extra-terrestrial rock journeyed through space before landing in the Northwest African desert. This exceptional slice has been prepared to reveal the Martian stone’s stunning mottled interior, with contrasting light and dark coloured crystals.
Martian meteorites are exceedingly rare. As of today, about 175 meteorites on Earth have been classified as Martian, out of more than 50,000 known meteorites. Three quarters of these are shergottites. These truly fascinating celestial bodies appear to have crystallised surprisingly recently, perhaps around 180 million years ago, which sharply contrasts with the planet’s small size and how ancient its surface is thought to be. This phenomenon, known as the "Shergottite Age Paradox", has never been solved and remains an active area of scientific research and debate.
Height: 17.14 cm (6.75 inches)
Provenance:
Discovered in Northwest Africa (exact coordinates unknown).
Published:
Meteoritical Bulletin, no. 111 (2022).
ArtAncient, Extraterrestrial (2022).
Petrography:
(A. Ross, UNM; D. Dickens, NMMS; C. Agee, UNM) Examination of a polished microprobe mount and image analysis using ImageJ shows ~25% igneous-zoned olivine, ~35% igneous-zoned pyroxene and ~35% maskelynite, with opaques making up the remainder. Chromite, ilmenite, merrillite, and troilite were detected.
Geochemistry:
(A. Ross, UNM) Olivine Fa35.4±2.8 Fe/Mn=49±3, n=10; Pigeonite Fs25.7±3.2Wo9.2±2.4, Fe/Mn=29±2, n=8; augite Fs16.5±1.0Wo34.6±1.3, Fe/Mn=26±3, n=3; plagioclase An54.8±1.2Ab43.9±1.2, Or 1.3±0.2, n=5.
- Dimensions:Height: 6.86 in (17.4 cm)Width: 5.91 in (15 cm)Depth: 0.04 in (1 mm)
- Materials and Techniques:
- Place of Origin:
- Period:
- Date of Manufacture:Approx. 180 Million y/o
- Condition:
- Seller Location:London, GB
- Reference Number:
About the Seller
5.0
Recognized Seller
These prestigious sellers are industry leaders and represent the highest echelon for item quality and design.
Established in 2008
1stDibs seller since 2014
100 sales on 1stDibs
Typical response time: 8 hours
Associations
LAPADA - The Association of Arts & Antiques DealersInternational Confederation of Art and Antique Dealers' AssociationsThe British Antique Dealers' Association
- ShippingRetrieving quote...Ships From: London, United Kingdom
- Return PolicyA return for this item may be initiated within 14 days of delivery.
More From This SellerView All
- Pre-Solar Stardust, a Piece of the Allende MeteoriteLocated in London, GBPre-Solar Stardust - A piece of the Allende Meteorite Carbonaceous Chondrite - CV3 Height 6.98 cm 280 g “This individual sample of the Allende CV3 carbonaceous chondrite shows ...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Mexican Natural Specimens
MaterialsStone
- Complete Slice of Imilac MeteoriteLocated in London, GBThis complete cross-sectional slice from the Imilac meteorite has been prepared to reveal shimmering olivine and peridot gems embedded in an iron-nick...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Natural Specimens
MaterialsOther
- Lunar MeteoriteLocated in London, GBA beautiful fragment from a lunar meteorite, among the rarest of all geological finds. This specimen belongs to NWA 11303, a feldspathic regolith breccia which formed when the shock ...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Algerian Natural Specimens
MaterialsStone
- Cross Section of the Imilac MeteoriteLocated in London, GB“This 282 g interior section of the Imilac pallasite shows a large range of olivine grain sizes – there are coarse grains, grain clusters and fine-grained, crushed olivine debris. All of the olivine grains are surrounded by a matrix of metallic iron-nickel derived from the top of a molten core of a differentiated asteroid.” Dr Alan E. Rubin, PhD Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, UCLA Imilac - interior section Stony-iron, pallasite - PMG 8 1/4 inches (20.95 CM), 282 g This complete cross-sectional slice from the Imilac meteorite...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Natural Specimens
MaterialsOther
- Sculptural Oriented MeteoriteLocated in London, GBOriented Chondrite Meteorite Circa 4.56 Billion y/o Chondrite 24 x 20 cm, 28 cm tall on base 7.1 kg A sculptural and beautifully weathered chondrite meteorite; upon entering the atmosphere, this extraterrestrial stone would have heated the surrounding air to a temperature of over 1700 C, higher than that of the hottest lava on the planet, and enough to melt away its outer layers, leaving its surface rippled with regmaglypts, thumb-shaped impressions formed as superheated rock streaked off of the main body as it careened toward the earth. The last layer of the rock to melt would have re-solidified as the meteorite made impact, forming a charcoal coloured fusion crust, which has taken on a deep ochre-tinted patina. Chondrite meteorites such as this example were formed at the very beginning of our solar system, by the accretion of various types of dust and small grains, adrift in the vacuum of space and, as such, provide important clues about the birth of our own planet. This piece is an especially rare specimen, known as an oriented meteorite...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Natural Specimens
MaterialsStone
- Large Sculptural MeteoriteLocated in London, GBA magnificent and extremely sculptural specimen of the Seymchan meteorite, recovered in the Russian Far East. This rare and large end cut preserves the patinated and partially melted...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Russian Natural Specimens
MaterialsOther
You May Also Like
- Franconia MeteoriteLocated in New York, NYFound in 2002 at Franconia in Mojave, Arizona, this H5 chondrite meteorite can be found strewn amongst many other varieties of metorite in what has been coined a Dense Collection Are...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier American Natural Specimens
MaterialsOther
- Brahin Pallasite Meteorite SliceLocated in New York, NYThis meteorite was acquired from the Bethany Sciences collection and was once a part of the private collection of Meteorite Man Robert A. Haag. It includes an informational Certifica...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Belarusian Natural Specimens
MaterialsCrystal, Other
- 24 Gram Brahin Meteorite SliceLocated in New York, NYThis meteorite was acquired from the Bethany Sciences collection and was once a part of the private collection of Meteorite Man Robert A. Haag. It includes an informational Certifica...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Belarusian Natural Specimens
MaterialsCrystal, Other
- Soledade Meteorite Slice // 389 GramsLocated in New York, NYThis hefty approximately over 4.5 billion year old Soledade iron meteorite slice features a prominent, unique iron nickel etching. This octahedrite was discovered in 1986 as a 68 kg ...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Brazilian Natural Specimens
MaterialsOther, Iron, Nickel
- 67 Gram Brenham Pallasite MeteoriteLocated in New York, NYThe Brenham meteorite is a pallasite meteorite found in Kansas in 1882. It is one of only a few pallasite meteorites, a type of meteorite with beautiful green and orange olivine crys...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier American Natural Specimens
MaterialsCrystal, Other
- Seymchan Corner-Cut Pallasite MeteoriteLocated in New York, NYThe Seymchan meteorite is a pallasite meteorite found in Russia in the settlement of Seymchan. Discovered in 1967, it is one of only a few pallasite meteorites - a type of meteorite ...Category
Antique 15th Century and Earlier Russian Natural Specimens
MaterialsOther