Meteorites—not to be confused with meteors, the luminescent phenomena in the night sky—are fragments of natural material from outer space that impact Earth. Named after the closest city, geological feature, or post office to which they are “delivered,” meteorites originate from asteroids, comets, the Moon and Mars—and lunar and Martian specimens are featured in this offering (see lot 241).

Meteorites are of great interest to scientists as they contain a great deal of information about the formation of our solar system. Moreover, it has been hypothesized that not only did a meteorite lead to the demise of the dinosaurs (allowing the opportunity for human life to evolve), but also that meteorites transported to Earth the precursors to life itself, more than four billion years ago. Organic molecules, including amino acids, have been found in some meteorites, resulting in the increasingly popular Panspermia Theory of Creation: life having been “seeded” on Earth by extraterrestrial impact. Sperm and egg on a cosmic scale.

The combined mass of all known meteorites is less than the world’s annual output of gold, and private collectors have been making the little excess material that does exist into one of the most in-demand collectibles today. The value of meteorites has skyrocketed in recent years and the sites that supplied many of the finest meteorites have been exhaustively searched.

There are three broad categories of meteorites: stones (representing approximately 94% of all meteorites), irons (5%); and stony irons (1%). All three groups of meteorites are represented in this offering. Stone meteorites quickly terrestrialize or become "weathered" after impact. To the uninitiated, stones typically appear to be of an Earthly origin, and recovery is problematic unless the impact is witnessed or the meteorite lands in an environment where it is easily detected (see lots 257, 258 and 259). Iron meteorites are comprised primarily of iron and nickel, are more resistant to Earth’s elemental forces and are more easily recognized (see lots 229, 236 and 260). On average, they are composed of 90% iron, 8% nickel, and 2% trace elements. The amount of nickel determines the type of crystalline pattern that will form, referred to as either a Widmanstätten or acid-etch pattern. More than one million years are required for the alloys that chiefly comprise iron meteorites to crystallize. When the planetary body from which this meteorite originated broke apart, the hot metallic core interacted with few molecules in the vacuum of space to which it could transfer its heat, thus providing sufficient time—millions of years—for the molecules of two metallic alloys, kamacite and taenite, to form their octahedral crystalline habit. As there is no other environment beside the vacuum of space that provides such an extended cooling curve, the presence of this latticework or Widmanstätten pattern is diagnostic in the identification of meteorites. (See lots 238, 239 and 256.)

Stony-irons, as the name indicates, are a combination of the stone and iron types and the most resplendent of all (see lots 247, 249 and 254).

For a meteorite to be analyzed by scientists it must be broken or cut; only when multiple specimens of the same meteorite are recovered will “complete” specimens exist.

In the unlikely event you have found what you strongly believe to be a meteorite, please contact a major museum, as each new discovery can further assist in unlocking the mysteries of creation.