NASA Analysis Points to a New 728-Foot Lunar Crater
SCIENCEUnverifiedUpdated:
NASA reports that before-and-after orbital imagery has revealed a newly formed 728-foot lunar crater, an impact it estimates occurs about once a century or less.
Before-and-after images constrain an impact window
NASA says Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images identified McGetchin crater on the Moon’s eastern edge. The agency attributes the crater to an impact by an asteroid or comet estimated to have been the size of a three- to six-story building. It says the impact occurred sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024.
NASA’s comparison images indicate that the site did not yet contain McGetchin crater before the reported impact window.
NASA’s analysis indicates that an impact between April 11 and May 22, 2024 created McGetchin crater, about 728 feet wide, on the Moon.
A cooler nighttime area around the crater
The reported crater is far larger than the newly formed craters typically identified in orbital images. NASA estimates an impact of this magnitude happens on the Moon about once a century or even less often, and follow-up observations reportedly found a cooler area extending about 4 miles around the crater.
Sources
- Hacker NewsNASA's Moon Orbiter Spots New, 'Once-in-Century' Moon CraterRead source →