LUNARSAHARA DESERT, NORTHWEST AFRICA

Details

NWA 8022 — A PIECE OF THE MOON
LUNAR
SAHARA DESERT, NORTHWEST AFRICA
The specimen contains numerous dark impact-melt veins cutting through the silicate matrix.
111 x 102 x 2mm (4½ x 4 x 1/8in.)

43g

Special notice

These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

Lot Essay

There are currently less than 250 lunar meteorites known, but because many specimens break up in the atmosphere or on the ground, there are probably only about 120 separate lunar meteorites. None is an observed fall. Lunar meteorites are readily recognizable because they can be compared to the samples returned by the Apollo astronauts and three Soviet Luna missions. Many of the lunar meteorites were shocked when launched from the Moon’s surface. NWA 8022 is classified as a feldspathic breccia – a rock made out of numerous fragments enriched in calcium-aluminum silicate. Most of the minerals are very fine grained. The specimen was found in the Sahara as a single 1226-g stone with some residual brown fusion crust.

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