2431

Allende Meteorite Slice and Individual (Lot of 2)

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles / Autographs Start Price:NA Estimated At:1,000.00 - 1,500.00 USD
Allende Meteorite Slice and Individual (Lot of 2)

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Auction Date:2020 Jul 16 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
Carbonaceous chondrite, CV3. Witnessed fall, February 8, Chihuahua, Mexico. Complete individual showing grey-blue fusion crust weighing 36.8 grams and measuring 32 mm x 26 mm x 29mm, and a complete slice weighing 3.5 grams and measuring 41 mm x 23 mm x 2 mm. Allende is a rare witnessed fall CV3 carbonaceous chondrite. Allende’s nighttime fireball was witnessed by hundreds of people in rural Mexico on February 8, 1969 and numerous specimens were picked up by locals the next morning.

Often described as “the most studied meteorite in history,” Allende is one of the most fascinating and desirable space rocks available to collectors. It’s availability for study and commerce is due in large part to Dr. Elbert King, a meteorite specialist who designed NASA’s Lunar Receiving Lab during the Apollo era. As soon as he heard the news, Dr. King traveled from Houston to Chihuahua, in the hope of recovering some samples. He had no idea that Allende would turn out to be a particularly rare type and of great interest to science. The enterprising Dr. King studied Allende for many years and traded specimens with researchers the world over which is, in part, why this meteorite has been so very widely studied. Dr. King’s thrilling Allende adventure is recorded in his enjoyable memoir, Moon Trip.

Allende is rich in carbon and the calcium-rich inclusions (CAIs) in the Allende meteorite are about 4.6 billion years old. Allende also contains microscopic diamonds which are believed to be the last remnants of an exploding sun that predates our own solar system by billions of years! As such, at an estimated 12 billion years, they are by far the oldest things any human has ever touched.

This lot comprises two items: A whole Allende individual of 36.8 grams, partially covered in characteristic matte grey-blue fusion crust, plus a complete laboratory-prepared slice of 3.5 grams, exhibiting the small grey and white chondrules, that have been of such great interest to researchers for decades.