NWA 12691 — MASSIVE TRIANGULAR SPECIMEN OF THE MOON — END PIECE REVEALS INTERIOR AND EXTERIOR OF A SAMPLE FROM THE NWA 8046 CLAN OF LUNAR METEORITES, Lunar Feldspathic Breccia Sahara Desert, Mauritania
This endpiece reveals both the interior and exterior surfaces of a Moon rock. Small patches of fusion crust and Sahara Desert hues accent the stone-like external surface. The classic character of a feldspathic lunar breccia is seen: white anorthositic rock suspended in a charcoal lunar groundmass “cemented’ together as part of an impact melt that solidified. The low average concentrations of FeO and Th indicated this lunar sample originated in the highlands region of the Moon. Its primary minerals are anorthite, olivine, pigeonite, augite, pigeonite, fayalite, silica, ilmenite and kamacite. The sloping edges of the exterior surface frame the cut and polished face that reveals the same lithology as the exterior but in a finer resolution. The obvious brecciation is the result of the ongoing bombardment of the Moon’s surface by asteroids and comets prior to the collision responsible for launching this Moon rock to Earth. Modern cutting.
247 x 193 x 37 mm. (9.75 x 7.5 x 1.5 in.)
1.92 kg. (4.25 lbs.)
Similar to the previous lot, which was the end cap removed from the current offering. The Moon is among the rarest substances on Earth. Less than 600 kg of lunar meteorites are known to exist. All would fit in four foot lockers of which a significant portion is controlled by governmental institutions. While Apollo astronauts returned with less than 400 kg of Moon rocks, not one milligram of this material is available for private ownership. Scientists identify Moon rocks by their specific textural, mineralogical, chemical and isotopic signatures. Many of the common minerals found on Earth’s surface are rare on the Moon and some lunar minerals are unknown on Earth. In addition, Moon rocks contain gases captured from the solar wind with isotope ratios very different from the same gases found on Earth. Lunar meteorites arrive on Earth after having been blasted off the lunar surface following an asteroid impact—and it’s the case that the collisions of asteroids and comets produced the Moon’s large craters. This particular meteorite was part of a large meteorite shower straddling the Mauritanian and Algerian borders and is responsible for nearly half of the lunar meteorites known. Approximately 30 different meteorites have been collected, analyzed, classified and assigned different NWA numbers in the belief they might be from different events and represent different lunar samples—but it has been determined that they all originate from the same impact event as this offering, NWA 12691 (provisional). As NWA 8046 was the first of these specimens, the meteorites belonging to this event are referred to as being members of the NWA 8046 clan. The choice lunar sample now offered is the end cap of the following lot. As one would expect, many of the Moon rocks returned by Apollo missions are nearly identical to lunar meteorites—and such is the case here.
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.
View it on
Estimate
Time
Auction House
This endpiece reveals both the interior and exterior surfaces of a Moon rock. Small patches of fusion crust and Sahara Desert hues accent the stone-like external surface. The classic character of a feldspathic lunar breccia is seen: white anorthositic rock suspended in a charcoal lunar groundmass “cemented’ together as part of an impact melt that solidified. The low average concentrations of FeO and Th indicated this lunar sample originated in the highlands region of the Moon. Its primary minerals are anorthite, olivine, pigeonite, augite, pigeonite, fayalite, silica, ilmenite and kamacite. The sloping edges of the exterior surface frame the cut and polished face that reveals the same lithology as the exterior but in a finer resolution. The obvious brecciation is the result of the ongoing bombardment of the Moon’s surface by asteroids and comets prior to the collision responsible for launching this Moon rock to Earth. Modern cutting.
247 x 193 x 37 mm. (9.75 x 7.5 x 1.5 in.)
1.92 kg. (4.25 lbs.)
Similar to the previous lot, which was the end cap removed from the current offering. The Moon is among the rarest substances on Earth. Less than 600 kg of lunar meteorites are known to exist. All would fit in four foot lockers of which a significant portion is controlled by governmental institutions. While Apollo astronauts returned with less than 400 kg of Moon rocks, not one milligram of this material is available for private ownership. Scientists identify Moon rocks by their specific textural, mineralogical, chemical and isotopic signatures. Many of the common minerals found on Earth’s surface are rare on the Moon and some lunar minerals are unknown on Earth. In addition, Moon rocks contain gases captured from the solar wind with isotope ratios very different from the same gases found on Earth. Lunar meteorites arrive on Earth after having been blasted off the lunar surface following an asteroid impact—and it’s the case that the collisions of asteroids and comets produced the Moon’s large craters. This particular meteorite was part of a large meteorite shower straddling the Mauritanian and Algerian borders and is responsible for nearly half of the lunar meteorites known. Approximately 30 different meteorites have been collected, analyzed, classified and assigned different NWA numbers in the belief they might be from different events and represent different lunar samples—but it has been determined that they all originate from the same impact event as this offering, NWA 12691 (provisional). As NWA 8046 was the first of these specimens, the meteorites belonging to this event are referred to as being members of the NWA 8046 clan. The choice lunar sample now offered is the end cap of the following lot. As one would expect, many of the Moon rocks returned by Apollo missions are nearly identical to lunar meteorites—and such is the case here.
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.
Estimate
Time
Auction House
