NWA 12691 is a moon rock, among the largest known in the world. Moon rock is among the rarest substances on Earth, weighing less than 650 kg. of known lunar meteorites. This example is the fifth largest piece of the Moon on Earth, larger than any returned by the Apollo program. Estimated to be worth £2 million, the sample is available for immediate purchase via Christie's Private Sales.
Lunar meteorites arrived on Earth after being blasted off the lunar surface by collision with an asteroid or comet. All of the large craters on the Moon were created by such impacts.
This particular meteorite was part of a large meteor shower straddling the western Saharan, Algerian and Mauritanian borders, responsible for nearly half of all known lunar meteorites. About 30 different meteorites were collected, analysed, classified and assigned different NWA numbers in the belief that they may have come from different events and represent different lunar samples; but it has been determined that they all come from the same lunar impact event as the current offering, NWA 12691, found in the Sahara Desert two years ago.
James Hyslop, Head of Science & Natural History at Christie's: I've been lucky enough to handle a few lunar meteorites at Christie's over the years, but every time I see this specimen in storage, its sheer size drives me crazy. Weighing in at over 13,5kg, it's far bigger than anything else that's ever been offered before. The experience of holding a piece of another world in your hand is something you will never forget”.
Scientists identify moon rocks based on their specific texture, mineralogical, chemical and isotopic signatures. Many of the common minerals found on Earth are rare or absent on the Moon, while some lunar minerals are unknown on Earth. Furthermore, lunar rocks contain gases captured by the solar wind with isotope ratios very different from the same gases found on Earth.
Christie's will also offer for private sale a group of 13 aesthetic iron meteorites. Shaped by terrestrial and extra-terrestrial forces, this group of natural sculptures forms one of the most important collections of aesthetic iron meteorites in private hands. The collection, estimated in the region of £1,4 million, is available for immediate purchase through Christie's Private Sales.
Unknown millennia ago – the exact date is lost to prehistory – an object weighing more than 26.000 kg crashed into Earth. It was originally formed 4,5 billion years ago from the core of a planetary body located between Mars and Jupiter, the shattered remains of which are now part of the asteroid belt. An impact event ejected what would become Gibeon's mass into interplanetary space before its descent to Earth, exploding in the atmosphere and raining down on what is now the Kalahari Desert.
