LOT 1123

LA002 — Superlative Complete Slice of a Martian Meteorite — Exhibited in Los Angeles at the Los Angeles County Museum & Griffith Observatory
SNC Achondrite, Shergottite [Mars rock]
Los Angeles, California

Infinitely more rare than diamonds or gold, meteorites from Mars are among the most exotic substances on Earth. The determination of a meteorite's Martian origin is the result of research conducted by hundreds of scientists (see Martian Meteorite Introduction). Links to Mars were speculative until an analysis of the gas trapped in tiny vesicles of a meteorite believed to be from Mars matched the signature of the composition of the Martian atmosphere.

On January 12, 2000, researchers at UCLA announced the discovery of Martian meteorites LA001 & LA002. These two meteorites-whose total weight is roughly 1.5 pounds-were discovered by Mr. Robert Verish, an inveterate rock hound and engineer with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Mr. Verish had kept a pile of interesting rocks collected over the years in his backyard. At his wife's insistence that he clean up his "mineral deposits," he re-examined the specimens and was sufficiently piqued to take two of them to Dr. Alan Rubin at UCLA for further analysis.

LA001 and 002 are among the most famous American meteorites; they also represent two of the three Martian meteorites ever found in North America. Up until recently, only LA001 was available to the public after being purchased by meteorite dealers Michael Casper and Darryl Pitt. LA002 was then placed on display at the Los Angeles County Natural History Museum for nearly eight years; a portion of LA002 has more recently been on display at Los Angeles's famed Griffith Observatory. The specimen offered here is complete slice whose beveled rim is blanketed with sought-after fusion crust (the result of burning through Earth's atmosphere). The matrix is an abstract mottling in green and black-pyroxene and plagioclase that has been shocked to maskelynite (a glass which likely formed as a result of the asteroid impact that catapulted the meteorite into space). This is a superlative specimen of the planet Mars, offered only once in a blue Moon. Provenance: Macovich Collection of Meteorites. 39 x 23 x 3mm (1.5 x 1 x .1 inches) and 5.85 grams.

Estimate: $9,500 - 12,000