Chip off the moon fetches pounds 9,200

A TINY fragment of the Moon, 1.75 centimetres long and weighing just 0.71 grams, was sold at auction for pounds 9,200 yesterday.

It comes from the meteorite Dar al Gani 262 - one of only 18 pieces of the Moon discovered on Earth - which was found in the Sahara desert in Libya two years ago. At 513g, Dar al Gani 262 was one of the largest lunar meteorites ever discovered. It was divided into three parts for examination and yesterday one of these was sold at Christie's, in London, to a private collector.

Tom Newth, of Christie's, said: "For some reason, which we don't fully understand, most meteorites land in the Antarctic - it might be something to do with the magnetic pull - which means that we don't find them very often."

Documentation of scientists' studies of the rock was offered for sale with the fragment.