A piece of the moon sold at auction will now go on display at the Tam Chuc Pagoda Complex in Vietnam. The meteorite was blasted off the moon and traveled 384,400 kilometers to Earth.
Image: icture-alliance/AP Photo/R. Ngowi
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A lunar meteorite found in northern Africa last year sold for more than $600,000 (€520,300), Boston's RR Auction House announced Friday.
The meteorite is affectionately known as "The Moon Puzzle," because it is made up of six fragments that piece together much like a jigsaw puzzle.
The rocks, which weigh just under 5.5 kilograms, sold for $612,500, more than $100,000 higher than the estimated selling price.
RR Auction said the meteorite is the largest known complete lunar puzzle ever found and one of the most significant examples from the moon to be offered for sale.
The mythological Moon
It wasn't just the first lunar landing 50 years ago that sparked people's imaginations about the Moon. We explore how the moon has profoundly influenced art and culture for thousands of years.
Image: Imago
Blockbuster of the century
With the historic moon landing on July 20, 1969, the moon could well have lost some of its mythical luster. Suddenly humans were exploring its mysteries first-hand — and even taking photographs. Science, it seemed, had finally conquered the Earth's enigmatic satellite — even its dark side.
Image: Getty Images/Nasa
Fly me to the moon
On July 27, 2018 a rare dual celestial phenomenon occurred: a relatively long lunar eclipse or "blood moon" due to the moon's change in color while shadowed by earth, and the nearest approach of planet Mars in 15 years. The very rare cosmic coincidence had sky gazers out in force. Since the beginning of time, however, the moon has been revered for its magic, mystery and cultural significance.
Image: picture-alliance/Imaginechina/S. Yipeng
Religious symbolism and astrology
People have worshipped the moon since the beginning of time, structuring their lives around its patterns and revering its perceived forces. Sometimes time was counted in moons rather than days or months. The bronze Nebra sky disc, found in Saxony-Anhalt in 1999, represents the duality of early astronomy and spirituality. The disc is estimated to be 3700-4100 years old.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa
The meaning of…
In the visual arts, the moon has been used to symbolize a variety of themes: innocence, the Virgin Mary, female sexuality. However, the overwhelming association has always been one of romance. Artists frequently looked to the moon for its magic, as displayed here in Caspar David Friedrich's "Two Men Contemplating the Moon" from 1820.
Image: picture alliance/Heritage Images/Fine Art Images
Immortal muse of the poets
The moon has played a pivotal role in literature since time immemorial. In poetry, it's often used to express melancholy and longing — or often solace, as in Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem "To the Moon." The opening verse of the poem reads: "Bush and vale thou fill'st again / With thy misty ray / And my spirit's heavy chain / Castest far away."
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/U. Edelmann/Städel Museum/ARTOTHEK/The British Museum(Ausschnitt)
Howl at the moon
The moon may inspire owls and wolves to sing, but humans have also made a habit of howling at it. Famous examples include Matthias Claudius' beloved German lullaby "Gently the Moon has Risen," Elvis Presley's version of Rodgers and Hart's "Blue Moon" and Pink Floyd's seminal 1973 album "The Dark Side of the Moon."
Image: picture alliance/AP Images
Horror and romance
Mark Twain once said "Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody." Since ancient times, legends have abounded about people who turn into wolves at the full moon. The werewolf has been a perennial cinema favorite — as in "The Wolf Man" of 1941, pictured. But the moon has played a role in every genre, including romantic comedies like the 1987 romcom "Moonstruck."
Image: picture alliance/United Archives/IFTN
Eternal mystery
But the magic of the moon wasn't destroyed by its human conquest. Indeed, it still continues to inspire, and in 2013 Chinese artist Ai Weiwei and his Danish collaborator Ólafur Elíasson launched their "Moon" project. At www.moonmoonmoonmoon.com people can immortalize their own drawings of the moon. "Leave your fingerprint and see the shared moon grow as others reach out too," implores the website.
Image: www.moonmoonmoonmoon.com
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The auction house said the meteorite was blasted off the surface of the moon in the distant past, likely by the impact of a different meteorite, then journeyed the roughly 384,400 kilometers (238,800 miles) to Earth and survived a fiery descent through the atmosphere to be found in the deserts of northwestern Africa in 2017.
The meteorite's "partial fusion crust," which can be seen on one side, was caused by heat as it passed through Earth's atmosphere.
The seller and buyer have not been identified, but the meteorite's new home will be the Tam Chuc Pagoda Complex in Vietnam, according to the auction house.
The meteorite will be put on display in one of the pagodas and will be open to the public.
Six key moments from NASA's 60-year history
For the 60th anniversary of the creation of NASA, DW brings you a selection of moments that left their mark on the famed space agency.
Image: AP/DW
Explorer 1 — older than NASA
The Soviet Union launched its Sputnik satellite in 1957, beating US to the punch and prompting fears of Soviet dominance in space. In January of the next year, the US army responded by sending up the Explorer 1 satellite (pictured above). And on July 29, 1958, the US Congress approved the creation of the National Aeronautics and Space Agency, or NASA. The agency opened its doors on October 1.
Image: NASA/JPL-Caltech
Men on the moon
NASA managed to land humans on the surface of the moon on July 20, 1969, just 11 years after the association's foundation. The feat was accomplished using less computing power than that possessed by the modern-day smartphone. The photo shows Neil Armstrong and Erwin Aldrin planting the US flag on the lunar surface.
On April 14, 1970, an oxygen tank on the Apollo 13 spacecraft exploded, prompting astronaut James Lovell (center) to report back to NASA base in Texas: "Houston, we've had a problem." The crew made it back to Earth after a risky repair operation. Lovell's phrase, slightly misquoted, was made famous by a 1995 movie, Apollo 13.
The Challenger Space Shuttle was not as fortunate as Apollo 13. It exploded, killing all seven people on board, just minutes after takeoff on January 28, 1986. Famed physicist Richard Feynman eventually determined that the crash was caused by a rubber seal ring that failed in unusually cold temperatures.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/B. Weaver
Burying the hatchet
The Cold War rivalries between Russian and American scientists were finally buried on December 14, 1998, when the US-built Unity module and the Russian-made Zarya module docked in space. The two modules form the basis of what we now know as the International Space Station (ISS).
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/NASA
NASA's Curiosity is scouting ahead for us
On August 6, 2012, NASA landed the Curiosity rover on the surface of Mars. The mobile laboratory is still sending scientific findings, selfies and even tweets from Mars, albeit with a little help from its Earth-based handlers. Curiosity's data is crucial for NASA's next mission: landing humans on Mars some time in the 2030s.
