The meteorite weighs about 25 kilograms and was found in the Sahara Desert in Niger at the end of 2023. According to the auction house Sotheby's, only about a hundred meteorites from Mars have been found on Earth, of which the now sold stone is considered to be by far the largest.
It is the largest piece of Mars that we have ever found, by far, said Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman of science and natural history at Sotheby's, before the auction.
The buyer, who is anonymous, won the bidding with a highest bid of 4.3 million dollars. With various additional fees, the price eventually ended up at 5.3 million dollars, that is approximately 51.6 million kronor.
The stone is believed to have been thrown away from Mars when an asteroid hit the planet.
The stone has a diameter of 375 millimeters where it is widest.
