Mars meteorite sells for whopping $4.3m at auction

How much would you pay for this piece of rock?

Are you ready for a price that's out of this world?

A very rare piece of Mars rock has sold for a whopping $4.3 million (£3.2 million) at auction on Wednesday.

The meteorite was first discovered in 2023, in the country of Niger in Africa.

It's known as NWA 16788 – not the most memorable name for a rock worth that much money!

Sotheby's - the auction house which sold the meteorite - says it weighs 54lb (24.5kg) and is nearly 15in (38.1cm) long.

What is a meteorite?

A meteorite is a piece of rock that has come from outside of Earth.

It has survived falling through space and Earth's atmosphere to arrive on our planet.

Meteorites come from meteoroids - rocks that exist in space.

You can read more about the differences between meteors, meteorites and asteroids here.

We only know of around 400 Mars meteorites on Earth

We do not know who purchased this small chunk of the Red Planet, and the details of the owner are expected to remain private.

To date, there have only been around 400 Martian meteorites found on Earth that we know of.

"This is the largest piece of Mars on planet Earth. The odds of this getting from there to here are astronomically small," said Cassandra Hatton, vice-chairman of science and natural history at Sotheby's.

"Remember that approximately 70% of Earth's surface is covered in water. So we're incredibly lucky that this landed on dry land instead of the middle of the ocean where we could actually find it."