H6 Sahara Desert, North West Africa

NWA 11480 is the 11,480th meteorite found in the Northwest African grid of the Sahara Desert to have undergone scientific analysis and cataloguing. Unlike 99% of all meteorites, it possesses a rare distinction: it’s oriented, which is to say that unlike most meteorites, this meteorite did not tumble or invert as it descended through Earth’s atmosphere and maintained the same axis of orientation during its earthward plunge (for another representation, see lot 13). Oriented meteorites are the result of the fortuitous distribution of its mass prior to atmospheric entry and its angle of entry. The parabolic "heat shield" curvature seen here was naturally sculpted as a result of frictional heating with Earth’s atmosphere. The curve in evidence is the most efficient angle at which heat is deflected when undergoing frictional heating in the atmosphere. As such, the ablative heat shields for the first manned space capsules were inspired and emulated from oriented meteorites similar to the current offering.

Christie's would like to thank Dr. Alan E. Rubin at the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles for his assistance in preparing this catalog note.