An “unbelievably rare” piece largest piece of Mars, the largest ever found on Earth, recently commanded an astonishing $4.3 million at a New York auction, but with additional taxes and fees, the total price for the extraterrestrial rock soared to approximately $5.3 million.

Dubbed NWA 16788, this remarkable meteorite weighs a colossal 54lb (24.5 kilogrammes) and measures nearly 15 inches (38.1 centimetres) long, the BBC reported.

According to Sotheby’s, the auction house that facilitated the sale, it was discovered in a remote region of Niger in November 2023.

Additionally, Sotheby’s confirmed that the piece of Mars was 70% larger than the next biggest piece of the Red Planet ever recovered, making it a monumental find for collectors and scientists.

“This is the largest piece of Mars on planet Earth. The odds of this getting from there to here are astronomically small,” Cassandra Hatton, vice-chairman of science and natural history at Sotheby’s, said in a video posted online.

“Remember that approximately 70% of Earth’s surface is covered in water. So we’re incredibly lucky that this landed on dry land, instead of the middle of the ocean, where we could actually find it.”

Meteorites are the remnants of rock left after an asteroid or comet passes through Earth’s atmosphere. Martian meteorites, however, are exceptionally scarce; only about 400 have ever been found on Earth.

This reddish-brown rock, described by Sotheby’s as “unbelievably rare”, represents a unique opportunity to study material directly from the Red Planet.

Furthermore, the buyer of this rare rock and information about its sale remain private, as is customary for such high-profile sales.

The recent auction featured more than 100 items, with NWA 16788 being a highlight among other significant natural history artefacts. The event also saw a Ceratosaurus skeleton from the late Jurassic period sell for $26 million, and the skull of a Pachycephalosaurus fetch $1.4 million.