Feldspathic Breccia Mauritania, Northwest Africa The Night Sky Lunar meteorite is unique and distinctive among Lunar meteorites. The soft edges of the large clasts are perfectly juxtaposed against the dark blue-grey matrix, which is scattered with flecks of iron. Looking deeply into this slice is like staring into the Milky Way on a dark night. The present stunning 55.4-grams slice was cut from its sister meteorite. This specimen is what is known as a complete slice in that the entire rim is that of the original meteorite from which the slice was taken. The original desert polish, resulting from the meteorite's exposure to the wind and dust of the Sahara Desert, surrounds the slice. There are no cuts, no broken edges, and nothing is compromised. It is exactly how a perfect meteorite slice of this size should be. The total known weight (TKW) of the Night Sky Lunar meteorite is only 4.35kg. It was discovered in two pieces in the Mauritanian Sahara Desert by nomads in 2020. Only the smaller 1800-gram piece has been sliced, whilst the larger 2550-gram piece has been kept fully intact as a museum specimen. The meteorite would have started its journey to Earth as a result of a massive meteor strike on the moon's surface, likely creating one of the craters we see on the Moon today. That initial strike had sufficient force to eject this and other rocks from the surface of the moon at escape velocity, leaving them to float freely in space. Eventually, this mass intersected with the Earth's own orbit where its surface was flash-heated to 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit on entry, then rapidly cooled in the frigid temperatures of Earth's upper atmosphere, before slowing to approximately 200 miles per hour on its final descent. This fall would have lit the Saharan sky up before hurtling down to its site of discovery. The present slice reveals the Night Sky Lunar meteorite's dark brecciated interior, indicating that it is composed mainly of rare Lunar regolith clasts embedded in a partially melted matrix.Flecks of iron are plentiful and exist as remnants from previous iron meteorite impacts on the Moon. The partially melted matrix is due to the high pressure of a meteorite impact on the Lunar surface, which ejected part of the surface regolith. The composition of the stone indicates that it most likely originated in the Lunar Highlands. The job of classifying this unique piece was given to world renowned meteorite expert, Dr Carl Agee, Director of the Institute of Meteoritics & Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico. Its official classification is NWA 13951, Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia). Weighing approximately 54.4 grams and measuring 127 x 107.95 x 3.17mm (5 x 4.25 x 0.125 in)
Feldspathic Breccia Mauritania, Northwest Africa The Night Sky Lunar meteorite is unique and distinctive among Lunar meteorites. The soft edges of the large clasts are perfectly juxtaposed against the dark blue-grey matrix, which is scattered with flecks of iron. Looking deeply into this slice is like staring into the Milky Way on a dark night. The present stunning 55.4-grams slice was cut from its sister meteorite. This specimen is what is known as a complete slice in that the entire rim is that of the original meteorite from which the slice was taken. The original desert polish, resulting from the meteorite's exposure to the wind and dust of the Sahara Desert, surrounds the slice. There are no cuts, no broken edges, and nothing is compromised. It is exactly how a perfect meteorite slice of this size should be. The total known weight (TKW) of the Night Sky Lunar meteorite is only 4.35kg. It was discovered in two pieces in the Mauritanian Sahara Desert by nomads in 2020. Only the smaller 1800-gram piece has been sliced, whilst the larger 2550-gram piece has been kept fully intact as a museum specimen. The meteorite would have started its journey to Earth as a result of a massive meteor strike on the moon's surface, likely creating one of the craters we see on the Moon today. That initial strike had sufficient force to eject this and other rocks from the surface of the moon at escape velocity, leaving them to float freely in space. Eventually, this mass intersected with the Earth's own orbit where its surface was flash-heated to 2,800 degrees Fahrenheit on entry, then rapidly cooled in the frigid temperatures of Earth's upper atmosphere, before slowing to approximately 200 miles per hour on its final descent. This fall would have lit the Saharan sky up before hurtling down to its site of discovery. The present slice reveals the Night Sky Lunar meteorite's dark brecciated interior, indicating that it is composed mainly of rare Lunar regolith clasts embedded in a partially melted matrix.Flecks of iron are plentiful and exist as remnants from previous iron meteorite impacts on the Moon. The partially melted matrix is due to the high pressure of a meteorite impact on the Lunar surface, which ejected part of the surface regolith. The composition of the stone indicates that it most likely originated in the Lunar Highlands. The job of classifying this unique piece was given to world renowned meteorite expert, Dr Carl Agee, Director of the Institute of Meteoritics & Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences at the University of New Mexico. Its official classification is NWA 13951, Lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia). Weighing approximately 54.4 grams and measuring 127 x 107.95 x 3.17mm (5 x 4.25 x 0.125 in)
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.jpg "Source: Christie's")
.jpg "Source: Christie's")
