12-pound lunar meteorite sells for more than $600,000

FILE – In this Oct. 10, 2018 file photo, a 12-pound (5.5 kilogram) lunar meteorite discovered in Northwest Africa in 2017 rests on a table, in Amherst, N.H. On Friday, Oct. 19, 2018, Boston-based RR Auction announced that the $612,500 winning bid for the meteorite, composed of six fragments that fit together like a puzzle, came from a representative working with the Tam Chuc Pagoda complex in Ha Nam Province, Vietnam. (AP Photo/Rodrique Ngowi)

BOSTON — A 12-pound (5.5 kilogram) chunk of the moon that fell to the Earth as a lunar meteorite has been sold at auction for more than $600,000.

Boston-based RR Auction announced Friday the $612,500 winning bid for the meteorite, composed of six fragments that fit together like a puzzle, came from a representative working with the Tam Chuc Pagoda complex in Ha Nam Province, Vietnam.

RR predicted it would get $500,000 at auction.

The meteorite was found last year in a remote area of Mauritania in northwest Africa.

It is considered one of the most significant lunar meteorites ever found because of its large size and because it has “partial fusion crust” caused by the tremendous heat that sears the rock as it falls to Earth. /muf