Flowers and chocolates are nice options for Valentine’s Day but if you’re looking for something way out there - literally - how about a space rock for your loved one?
Beginning Tuesday, Christie’s auction house will go live with an online sale of 72 meteorites from celestial objects like comets and asteroids.
Included in the exclusive collection is a large chunk of Martian rock which contains bubbles of the red planet’s atmosphere trapped inside. It’s expected to fetch between $30,000 and $50,000.
Christie’s will be putting up for auction a dozen samples from the moon and Mars, and another dozen that have been held in museums throughout the world.
The meteorites that survived entry into our planet's atmosphere are from all over the world, from the Sahara Desert to Russia.
According to the auction house, the crown jewel - err, rock - on the auction block is a 16-pound “highly aesthetic oriented stone meteorite” that could go for up to $80,000. What makes this piece especially rare, according to Christies, is “Unlike 99% of all other meteorites, this meteorite did not tumble or invert as it plunged to Earth but maintained a stable orientation throughout its descent...The surface that faced Earth showcases elongated flight marks that radiate outwards in this compelling, extraterrestrial aerodynamic form.”
It’s called the “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites” auction and runs through February 23rd.