More than 50,000 years ago, a meteorite crashed in the deserts of Arizona and it became a tourist spot since then. The site where the crash happened was actually known as the Canyon Diablo Crater but scientists refer to the site as the Barringer crater because the man who suggested that it was actually a meteorite impact was named Daniel Barringer and the area was also owned by his family, so it was only fitting that it was named after them.
This site is also considered to be the most famous and the best-preserved meteorite crater on Earth. Unfortunately, it is not protected by the federal government as a natural monument but instead, in 1967, it’s considered as a National Natural Landmark. However, this is now the biggest news, the meteorite, of course, left something and who would’ve thought that its remains would cost so much so many years after the incident, continue reading to find out more.
Canyon Diablo Crater in Arizona
$237,500 Canyon Diablo Meteorite
Christie’s have sold yet another remarkable and historical artifact and that is the 70-pound meteorite that was from the Meteor Crater or the Barringer Crater in Arizona. It was sold for $237,500 last Wednesday at an auction, and it is made of iron which actually came from the site itself.
A meteor crashed on the site about 50,000 years ago and is still a historical spot for tourists. A history has been made last Wednesday when this was sold because it is considered to be the most expensive meteorite to have ever been sold through an auction online with Christie’s.
This is not exactly the very first time a meteorite from the site was auctioned off but it was the highest paid one. This is all according to Daryl Pitt, who is now the former owner d the meteorite.
Pitt is a curator who is working for the Macovich Collection of Meteorites and he said that he was expecting to sell it around $150,000 to $200,000 but not more an that. It is not every day that a meteorite can be auctioned off with the price range and with that size, so it was definitely a remarkable day.
The Canyon Diablo Meteorite is a valuable piece of history that happened 50,000 years ago
According to experts, it is extremely rare because only about 2 percent of meteorites are actually made of iron and Pitt also mentioned how not every meteorite is actually referred to as a national sculpture.
In an interview with CNBC, Pitt even explained how people could think of it as a “quintessential American meteorite” because of how unique it actually is. Most meteorites are actually shaped with a lot of angles but this 70-pound meteorite has a really gentle curved surface on it.
2018 Michigan Fireball
There is another meteorite that is actually set to be auctioned off this year besides the Canyon Diablo, and this one is actually a lot newer because it just came here on Earth all the way from the outer space last month.
Around 8 pm in Detroit, Michigan, an unusual fireball that is so bright and loud fell from the sky and there are so many footages from people that managed to catch that rare event with their phones, security cameras and dash cams.
People wondered if it was some sort of a missile but as it turned out, it was actually a meteorite. The people of Detroit has witnessed a meteorite falling from the sky and this is all according to the American Meteor Society.
The United States Geological Survey said that the exploded so bad that it caused a 2.0 earthquake. When the NASA was asked about it, their Meteoroid Environment Officer Bill Cooke said that the meteor was falling 28,000 per hour at that time and the flash that the people saw is known as the ‘super bolide’ which is like a fireball that is so light that it’s actually way brighter than the sun. The fireball said to have broken apart and its parts rained down all over in some parts of the state of Michigan.
A resident named Ashley Morris from Royal Oak actually found a piece of the meteorite from a patch of snow. Its specimens, which are actually covered with black crusts are different from its pieces. Some of the meteors’ specimens are already at the Rockefeller center but some of its pieces are already up for auction which was said to end in April.