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Sale 82
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Lot 1498
Own a Piece of a Comet. The Murchison meteorite is one of the most important and well studied meteorites ever discovered. Murchison meteorites fell in Australia shortly before 11 A.M. on Sept. 28, 1969 leaving a smell of alcohol in the air for several hours. This extremely rare carbonaceous chondrite type two meteorite was found to be one of the most primitive meteorites known, virtually unchanged since being formed at the same time as the solar system 4.57 billion years ago. Murchison meteorites contain 12 per cent water and many organic compounds which makes it very different from most of the meteorites which originate in the asteroid belt. NASA planetary scientists consider Murchison to be cometary in origin being a piece of the comet nucleus which broke off during a comets journey around the sun. What makes Murchison even more special is that it contains over 92 different amino acids. On earth there are only 19 Amino acids that make up all living creatures while Murchison contains these 19 plus 73 different amino acids. The presence of amino acids in a meteorite gives us a good idea as to the possible source of the building blocks of life. In the earth's early history there was a tremendous bombardment of meteorites and most if not all of the water found on earth today may have originated in comets. This sizable rare endcut weighs 1.79 grams and is 16mm x 11mm x 8mm housed in a 1.25 x 1.25 inch white plastic box and a 5.5 x 4.5 inch Ryker mount.The rare meteorite has a polished top side that is black with lighter gray spherical chondrules and a natural back side that even contains a small section of original black fusion crust. Comets are currently in the news with an European spacecraft making contact with a comet in August, 2014.
Add $15 for domestic shipping.
Estimated Value $550 - 850.
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| Realized $1,200 |
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