On Wednesday (July 16), the largest Mars meteorite on Earth was auctioned off at Sotheby's in New York City for $4.3 million. (Extra fees bring the lot price to about $5.3 million).
The jagged, 54-pound (25-kilogram) chunk of the Red Planet is formally called NWA 16788. It was found in Northwest Africa, which is where the "NWA" title comes from — but, surprisingly, the bidding war to attain this cosmic relic wasn't as enthusiastic as many expected. Before live bidding began, advance bids set the starting price of NWA 16799 at $2 million — during live bidding, however, things were slow. Still, the object sold for higher than the original estimate that maxed out at $4 million.
