Taking the time to look at the moon is becoming increasingly rare…
Possessing an even piece of the Moon!
And yet… it is possible, the online auction site Catawiki offers until Sunday the opportunity to acquire a piece of lunar rock. Most of the lunar rocks on Earth have been brought back by the astronauts of the Apollo missions. Only two lunar rocks are on display in France, one at the Cité de l’Espace in Toulouse and the second at the Palais de la Découverte in Paris.
The moon rock put up for sale is not a fragment brought by humans, but a «lunar meteorite». This piece of the Moon fell to Earth as a result of an impact.
Dar al Gani
10.7 grs 112mm
Catawiki's meteorite special sale offers an unprecedented assortment of 90 meteorite lots.
Meteorites have two main characteristics: they are covered with a fusion crust (due to the passage through the atmosphere) and they contain metallic minerals, which makes them magnetic.
There are three groups of meteorites: Metallic meteorites, Pallasites, which are a mixture of rock and metal, and Chondrites composed of olivine (peridot), pyroxene, silicates, and feldspar.
Meteorite «Sikhote Aline» (537 grams)
Pallasite Seymchan meteorite cup
Pallasite Esquel meteorite (21.9 grams)
Pallasite Météorite Seymchan (86.6 grams)
Meteorite chondrite (383 grams)
Météorite Ferreuse Gibeon (1170 grs)
Fragment of meteorite Jbilet Winselwan
Meteorite Seymchan, another key piece of this imposing meteorite was found in Russia, weighing approximately 1200 kg.
Often meteorites lose mass during their atmospheric journey and end up as tiny fragments after impacting Earth.
Martian meteorite (7 kg), extracted from Mars during the impact of another meteorite; characteristic of the Shergottites, Nakhilites and Chassignites groups
Fragment of the Pallasite meteorite composed of olivine (peridot) crystals, nickel and iron.
Nothing is impossible for this end of the year; thanks to Catawiki, we have the opportunity to acquire a lunar or Martian stone or a shooting star!
Make a wish!
www.catawiki.eu/meteorites
www.cite-espace.com
www.mnhm.fr
www.musee.mines-paristech.fr
Photos Credit Catawiki
