Niger’s anger that a piece of Mars is over for the auction

“Cheeky! It’s!” Professor Paul Serena says it’s down by phone with Chicago.

He does not make efforts to mask his anger, which is a rare meteorite of Mars, discovered two years ago in the West African nation, Niger, last month was auctioned in New York.

The paleontologist, who has close ties with the country, believes that he should return to Niger.

This millions of years-like parts of the Red Planet, the largest in history found on Earth, Sexed 4.3 million dollars (3.2 million pounds) at Sotheby’s. Like the buyer, the seller remained anonymous.

But it is unclear whether the nigga went out of this money.

Fragments of the extraterrestrial material that made their way to the land have long been inspired by the people – some found themselves as religious objects, others as curiosity for demonstration. Most recently, many have become a subject of scientific research.

The meteorite trade is compared to the art market, and the aesthetics and rarity affect the price.

Initially, it was shown that there were less than 400 of 50,000 meteorites coming from our planetary neighbor in the public manifestation of this unusual Martian find.

Photos taken in the Sootbi with 24.7 kg (54 pounds) that appear in the lights to glow silver and red – deteriorated this feeling.

But then some people started asking questions about how it was under the auction hammer.

Not least the nigga government itself which, which, In the statement“he expressed doubts about the legality of his exports, raising concerns about the possible illegal international trade.”

Sotby very challenges this, saying that the correct procedures were performed, but Niger launched an investigation into the opening and sale of a meteorite, which received the NWA 16788 scientific and non-nemantic name (NWA behind Northwest Africa).

Little was released on how it was in the world -renowned auction house in the United States.

As also Italian academic article Published last year, he said that he was found on November 16, 2023 in the Sahara Desert in the Agades Niger region, 90 km (56 miles) west of the Chariff Oasis, “the hunting for meteorite, the identity of which remained undisclosed.”

Meteorites can get anywhere on the ground, but because of the favorable climate to preserve and lack the disorder of the Sahara human has become the main place for their opening. People view the awkward landscape that stretches in several countries hoping to find it to sell.

According to the Italian article, NWA 16788 was “sold to the local community by an international dealer” and then transferred to a private gallery in the Italian city of Arezz.

The Florence University magazine called the man “an important owner of the Italian gallery”.

A team of scientists led by Giovanni Pressesi, a professor at the university, was able to study it to find out more about its structure and where it came from. The meteorite was then shown last year in Italy, including the Italian space agency in Rome.

The next was noticed in public in New York last month, minus two slices left in Italy for additional research.

Sotybis said NWA 16788 was “exported from Niger and was allocated to all relevant international procedures.

“Like everything we sell, all the relevant documentation was in order at each stage of our journey in accordance with the best practice and requirements of the participants of the countries.”

The press secretary added that Sotbis was aware that Niger was investigating the meteorite exports and “we are considering the information available to us in the light of the issue.”

Professor Serena, who founded the organization Niger -History ten years ago, is convinced that the Nigerian law was violated.

Academician from the University of Chicago, which spent years, revealing the huge deposits of dinosaur bones in Sahara, a company to obtain the cultural and natural heritage of Niger – including everything that fell from space – returned.

By stunning the museum on the island on the Niger River, which runs through the capital, the Niam, it is planned to place these artifacts.

“International law says you can’t just accept what is important for the country’s heritage – whether it is a cultural subject, a physical subject, a natural subject, an extraterrestrial subject – in the country. You know that we have moved from the colonial times when it was all right,” says Professor Serena.

A series of global agreements, including under UNESCO Cultural Organization, tried to regulate the trade in these facilities. But, According to the 2019 study According to International Rights Expert Max Gunel, when it comes to meteorites, while they may be included, there remains some ambiguity as to whether they are distributed in these agreements. Some states remain to be clarified.

Niger passed his own law in 1997, aimed at protecting his heritage.

Professor Serena points to one section with a detailed list of all categories. “Mineralogical patterns” are mentioned among the works of art, architecture and archaeological finds, but the meteorites are not specifically named.

In his statement about the sale of Sotheby’s Niger, Niger admitted that “no specific meteorite legislation” is a line that also noted the auctional house. But it remains unclear how someone was able to get such a heavy, noticeable artifact from the country without noticing the authorities.

Morocco faced a similar problem with a huge amount of meteorites – more than 1000 – found within its borders, including part of the Sahara.

More than two decades ago, the country survived the fact that the author Helen Gordon called the “Sahar Golden Peak”, which was partly fueled by weaker rules and more stable political environments than some of its neighbors.

In her recent book “Meteorites”, she wrote that Morocco was “one of the greatest space rocks exporters”.

Professor Hasno Chanauii Audjahan has spent most of the last 25 years, trying to keep some of these extraterrestrial materials for his country.

“This is part of us, this is part of our heritage … This is part of our identity, and it is important to be proud of the country’s wealth,” the BBC geologist says.

The professor is not against the meteorite trade, but plays an important role in introducing measures aimed at regulating business. She admits that the new rules were not completely successful for keeping the meteorite flow.

In 2011, Professor Chenaui was responsible for collecting materials in the wilderness from the observed fall of a meteorite that appeared from Mars.

He later called the Tissint meteorite, he weighed 7 kg all over, but now she says only 30 g remains in Morocco. Some of the rest are in museums around the world, with the biggest work in the London Museum of Natural Sciences.

Reflecting on the fate of the Martian meteorite Niger, she says she was not surprised because “this” is what I have lived for 25 years. It is a pity we can’t be satisfied with this, but it is the same state in all our countries. “

Professor Serena hopes that Sotheby sales will be a turning point -the first, the nigerian authorities to act and in the first place, “if he sees the world of the day in a public museum (museum) to deal with the fact that Niger openly disputes it.”