On Wednesday (July 16), the largest Mars meteorite on Earth was auctioned off at Sotheby's in New York City for $4.3 million. (Extra fees bring the lot price to about $5.3 million).

The jagged, 54-pound (25-kilogram) chunk of the Red Planet is formally called NWA 16788. It was found in Northwest Africa, which is where the "NWA" title comes from — but, surprisingly, the bidding war to attain this cosmic relic wasn't as enthusiastic as many expected. Before live bidding began, advance bids set the starting price of NWA 16799 at $2 million — during live bidding, however, things were slow. Still, the object sold for higher than the original estimate that maxed out at $4 million.

As Cassandra Hatton, the vice chairman of science and natural history at Sotheby's, told Space.com, NWA 16788 doesn't only set itself apart from other Mars meteorites we've found on the planet in size, but also in aesthetics. "It also looks just like the surface of the Red Planet," she said. "Most other Martian meteorites that we find are really small, thin slices, and when you first look at them, you would never guess that they're Martian." For context, this particular Mars meteorite is about 70% larger than the next largest Mars meteorite that's been located on planet Earth; and Hatton says many of those smaller Red Planet samples sold for between $20,000 and $80,000.

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