Moon rock, lunar feldspathic breccia, found in Mauritania.
183 mm x 112 mm x 75 mm (7.2 x 4.4 x 2.9 inches)
1,348 grams (2.97 lbs)
Large and magnificent Northwest Africa (NWA 13951) lunar meteorite end cut—a beautiful moon rock with interior and exterior revealed. The end cut features a stunning polished face resembling a 'starry night'—the surface shows numerous clasts with gray and white grains, bounded by abundant darker gray melt veins. The jagged and pock-marked exterior resembles the cratered surface of the moon, and comes to a pyramidal point that serves as a natural display stand.
NWA 13951 was classified as a lunar meteorite (feldspathic breccia) by the Institute of Meteoritics, University of New Mexico Albuquerque. The Meteoritical Bulletin reports: "Electron microprobe analysis and imaging reveal a very fine-grained brecciated mix of plagioclase, pyroxene, olivine and melt." The consignor notes that this was purchased directly from Mark Lyon, who is listed in the Meteoritical Bulletin as the owner.
Rarely do such large and attractive lunar meteorites appear in the marketplace—they are often reduced to smaller sections and segments, making this large moon rock a particularly spectacular example. Lunar meteorites comprise less than 0.1% of all meteoritic finds, and the combined weight of all known lunar meteorites totals less than 750 kilograms—making them one of the rarest rocks on Earth.
