LUNAR METEORITE SELLS FOR $612,500

BOSTON A 5.5 kilogram chunk of the moon that fell to the Earth as a lunar meteorite has been sold at auction for more than US$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.