Summary
A Martian meteorite, the largest found on Earth, sold at a New York auction for about $5.3 million, exceeding its estimated price. A juvenile dinosaur skeleton also sold for $30.5 million at the same auction.
Key Facts
- The Martian meteorite weighed 54 pounds (25 kilograms) and was found in the Sahara Desert in Niger.
- It was knocked off Mars by an asteroid impact and traveled 140 million miles (225 million kilometers) to Earth.
- Pre-auction estimates for the meteorite were between $2 million and $4 million, but it sold for $5.3 million.
- The meteorite is 70% larger than the next largest Martian rock on Earth and makes up nearly 7% of all Martian material here.
- Only about 400 Martian meteorites are known among the 77,000 recognized meteorites on Earth.
- The juvenile dinosaur skeleton of a Ceratosaurus nasicornis sold for $30.5 million, starting with a high bid of $6 million.
- Parts of the dinosaur skeleton were found in Wyoming in 1996 and are mounted for display.
