Thanks to one truly out-of-this-world feature, a doghouse from Costa Rica could fetch as much as $300,000 at auction.
The kennel, once inhabited by a German Shepherd named Roky, was struck by a meteorite in April 2019, and is now part of “Deep Impact: Martian, Lunar and Other Rare Meteorites,” an online-only Christie’s series accepting bids until Feb. 23, Fox News reported.
Roky, who was inside the doghouse when the meteorite struck, was not injured in the close encounter, the network reported.
“Aguas Zarcas meteorites are the same type as Murchison, among the most researched meteorites of all time,” the British auction house explained, adding, “These samples not only contain tens of thousands of prebiotics, including amino acids, but also pre-solar grains ranging up to twice the age of the solar system. Today, many cosmochemists throughout the world are either investigating Aguas Zarcas specimens or waiting to obtain them.”
According to Nine, Australia’s largest media company, a fragment from a fireball, caught on camera during its descent, tore a seven-inch hole through Roky’s kennel.
The meteorite itself is expected to sell for between $40,000 and $60,000, Fox Business reported.
There are currently 16 bids on the Aguas Zarcas Doghouse and 8 bids on the meteorite, according to Nine.
“This is a really exciting auction and opportunity for collectors. Meteorites are incredibly rare objects; the combined weight of all the known meteorites is less than the annual output of gold. Ever since an exhibition in Paris featured a car famously struck by a meteorite, I’ve wanted to bring an object hit by an extraterrestrial object to auction,” James Hyslop, head of science and natural history for Christie’s, stated.
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