On the afternoon of April 19, 2018, a large fireball traveling at a cosmic velocity of nearly 13 miles/second (75,000 kilometers/hour), hit Earth’s atmosphere and fragmented over southwestern Nigeria about 100 miles north of Lagos. Numerous stones were collected and the meteorite was named Aba Panu for the village at the epicenter of the strewn field. Aba Panu is referred to as a primitive or type-3 chondrite (see lots 12 and 60) — it did not experience much heat or pressure prior to its ejection into an Earth-crossing orbit.

Specimens of Aba Panu with two lithologies are especially sought-after and this is a highly aesthetic example. The shape of this slice, the somewhat circular light-colored clast and the contrast between the light and dark lithologies evoke a primitive abstract drawing.

One face of this complete slice is highly polished while the reverse has a matte finish. The alternation between lithologies enchants. Chondrules (the spherical silicate-rich inclusions for which the chondrite class of meteorites are named) and chondrule fragments abound. Armored chondrules (chondrules sheathed in iron-nickel and sulfide) are also in evidence and, in what is a signature feature of most fresh chondrites, gleaming flakes of metal are dispersed throughout the matrix. Patches of fusion crust run along the perimeter of the specimen. At 4.56 billion years of age, this engaging specimen is older than Earth; relative to the age of our solar system, this originates at the edge of time. Modern cutting.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Department of Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalogue.

154 x 129 x 3mm (6 x 5 x 0.1 in.) and 172.8 grams (0.33 lbs)