Latest news with #Soth
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Science
- Indian Express
Largest piece of Mars on Earth fetches $5.3 million at New York auction
The largest piece of Mars ever found on Earth was sold for just over $5 million at an auction of rare geological and archaeological objects in New York on Wednesday. But a rare young dinosaur skeleton stole the show when it fetched more than $30 million in a bidding frenzy. The 54-pound rock named NWA 16788 was discovered in the Sahara Desert in Niger by a meteorite hunter in November 2023, after having been blown off the surface of Mars by a massive asteroid strike and travelling 140 million miles to Earth, according to Sotheby's. The estimated sale price before the auction was $2 million to $4 million. The identity of the buyer was not immediately disclosed. The final bid was $4.3 million. Adding various fees and costs, the official sale price was about $5.3 million, making it the most valuable meteorite ever sold at auction, Sotheby's said. The live bidding was slow, with the auctioneer trying to coax more offers and decreasing the minimum bid increases. The dinosaur skeleton, on the other hand, sparked a war among six bidders over six minutes. With a pre-auction estimate of $4 million to $6 million, it is one of only four known Ceratosaurus nasicornis skeletons and the only juvenile skeleton of the species, which resembles the Tyrannosaurus rex but is smaller. Bidding for the skeleton started with a high advance offer of $6 million, then escalated during the live round with bids $500,000 higher than the last and later $1 million higher than the last before ending at $26 million. People applauded after the auctioneer gaveled the bidding closed. The official sale price was $30.5 million with fees and costs. That buyer also was not immediately disclosed, but the auction house said the buyer plans to loan the skeleton to an institution. It was the third-highest amount paid for a dinosaur at auction. A Stegosaurus skeleton called 'Apex' holds the record after it was sold for $44.6 million last year at Sotheby's. Parts of the skeleton were found in 1996 near Laramie, Wyoming, at Bone Cabin Quarry, a gold mine for dinosaur bones. Specialists assembled nearly 140 fossil bones with some sculpted materials to recreate the skeleton and mounted it so it's ready to exhibit, Sotheby's says. It was acquired last year by Fossilogic, a Utah-based fossil preparation and mounting company. It's more than 6 feet tall and nearly 11 feet long, and is believed to be from the late Jurassic period, about 150 million years ago. Ceratosaurus dinosaurs could grow up to 25 feet long, while the T. rex could be 40 feet (12 metres) long. The bidding for the Mars meteorite began with two advance offers of $1.9 million and $2 million. The live bidding slowly proceeded with increases of $200,000 and $300,000 until $4 million, then continued with $100,000 increases until reaching $4.3 million. The red, brown and grey meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest piece of Mars found on Earth and represents nearly 7% of all the Martian material currently on this planet, Sotheby's says. It measures nearly 15 inches by 11 inches by 6 inches. It was also a rare find. There are only 400 Martian meteorites out of the more than 77,000 officially recognised meteorites found on Earth, the auction house says. 'This Martian meteorite is the largest piece of Mars we have ever found by a long shot,' Cassandra Hatton, vice chairman for science and natural history at Sotheby's, said in an interview before the auction. 'So it's more than double the size of what we previously thought was the largest piece of Mars.' It's not clear exactly when the meteorite was blasted off the surface of Mars, but testing showed it probably happened in recent years, Sotheby's says. Hatton said a specialised lab examined a small piece of the red planet remnant and confirmed it was from Mars. It was compared with the distinct chemical composition of Martian meteorites discovered during the Viking space probe that landed on Mars in 1976, she said. The examination found that it is an 'olivine-microgabbroic shergottite,' a type of Martian rock formed from the slow cooling of Martian magma. It has a coarse-grained texture and contains the minerals pyroxene and olivine, Sotheby's says. It also has a glassy surface, likely due to the high heat that burned it when it fell through Earth's atmosphere, Hatton said. 'So that was their first clue that this wasn't just some big rock on the ground,' she said.
Yahoo
10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
EXCLUSIVE: Louis Vuitton's New Travel Campaign Highlights the Beauty of China
GREAT ESCAPE: Chinese consumers may have paused luxury spending, but the country remains firmly in the sights of industry leader Louis Vuitton. Days after opening a Shanghai flagship in the shape of a cruise ship, the brand has unveiled its new travel campaign, set in China. For the first installment, U.S. photographer Alec Soth shot the lush green scenery and karst limestone mountains near the Li river in Guilin. More from WWD Designer Nicole Miller and Model Carol Alt Help Judge Albanian Fashion Show Welcome to Can Nikita, an Oasis Made of Love in Ibiza MAC Cosmetics Debuts 'Musical Spaceship' Concept for Nanjing Flagship The brand's Monogram Horizon rolling case and Soft Keepall bag are showcased against a traditional fisherman's bamboo raft. Its Alzer briefcase and small travel trunks are among the items strapped to bicycles crossing the river. 'The campaign's images and video invite viewers to discover the country's lesser-known gems and move beyond the familiar narratives often presented in Western portrayals,' Vuitton said. The campaign launched in display on Tuesday, with print insertions due to begin on July 5, a rollout on Vuitton's local social accounts on July 8, and its global social platforms on July 24. The brand will unveil two more destinations in the coming months: Zhangjiajie, home to the quartzite sandstone pillars of the Wulingyuan District, and Datong, one of the nine ancient capitals in China. Vuitton's last travel campaign, in 2022, was shot by Viviane Sassen in Iceland. Soth, who is based in Minneapolis, is best known for his large-format photography that blends documentary realism with lyrical storytelling. He has published more than 30 books — including 'Sleeping by the Mississippi,' 'A Pound of Pictures' and 'Advice for Young Artists' — and is a recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship. A member of Magnum Photos, Soth is represented by Sean Kelly in New York, Weinstein Hammons Gallery in Minneapolis, Fraenkel Gallery in San Francisco and Loock Galerie in Berlin. Best of WWD Longtime Vogue Editor Grace Mirabella Dies at 91 First Lady Dr. Jill Biden Helps Forbes Celebrate Its 50 Over 50 List Mikaela Shiffrin Gets Personal in New Series for Outside+
