Moldavite is a tektite, a silicate-glass formation whose origin had long been a mystery. Today, however, scientists agree these objects, whose name comes from the Greek tektos (“melted”), are the result of an asteroid having slammed into Earth. The extraordinary heat and pressure resulting from such an apocalyptic event not only shatters target rock, but liquifies and splashes molten rock into the atmosphere returning to Earth as solidified glass. The type of glass, color, and opacity depend on the material liquefied. Tektites are named after the locality in which they are found. Hence, there are philippinites, australites and moldavites — moldavite indisputably the most beautiful of all, but all are rather small, unlike Libyan Desert Glass (see lot 90). A tektite’s shape is the product of a host of variables including — for those tektites that were splashed into the sky — the altitude reached by molten material, the subsequent ablation experienced as it fell back to Earth as well as its orientation and speed of rotation during descent. Moldavites formed nearly 15 million years ago as a result of the asteroid impact that created the 16 mile wide Nördlinger-Ries crater near Stuttgart, Germany and are found in the Moldau River Valley in the Czech Republic nearly 300 miles away from the site of impact. The surface detail seen in this example — and the vast majority of moldavite — is largely the result of the soil’s acidity in which the glass was entombed for millions of years. An asteroid impact should not be confused with that of a meteorite. Meteorites are far smaller objects which are slowed by Earth’s atmosphere and achieve terminal velocity before freefalling to Earth. Asteroids are barely slowed. An asteroid only 7.5 miles in diameter triggered the global climate change that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs — and 75% of the species which inhabited Earth; an asteroid just a few times larger could make humans extinct. It was an asteroid estimated to be a mi