A Japanese astronomer has captured the flash of a meteorite that hit the Moon, causing a flash on the night side of our natural satellite at the moment of impact.
Daichi Fujiicurator of Hiratsuka City Museumrecorded the event using cameras set up to monitor the moon.
The time of the flash was at 11:14 UTC on February 23. The meteorite appears to have struck near the Ideler L crater, slightly northwest of Pitiscus crater, Fujii saidin a comment on his Twitter account.
Meteors travel on average at around 30,000 miles per hour. Their high-velocity impacts generate intense heat and create craters, while emitting a bright flash of visible light. Lunar impacts can be seen from Earth if they are big enough and they occur in an area during the lunar night facing the Earth.
私 の 観測 上 最大 の 月面 衝突 閃光 を 捉える ことができ まし た 2023 年 2 月 23日 20 時 14 分 30.8 秒 秒 出現 し た 月面 衝突 閃光 を を 、 平塚 の 自宅 から 撮影 た 様子 様子 です （実際 （（実際速度 で 再生。 なんと 1 秒 以上 も 続ける 巨大 閃光 でし た 月 は 大気 が ない ため 流星 火球 は 見ら れ ず 、 クレーター が できる できる 瞬間 瞬間 に 光り ます ます ます ます ます ます。 ます pic.twitter.com/Bi2JhQa9Q0
– 藤井大地 (@dfuji1) February 24, 2023
twelve meters in diameter
The newly created crater could be around a dozen meters in diameter and could eventually be imaged by the Space Orbiter. NASA Lunar Survey or India’s Chandrayaan 2 lunar probe, Fujii said.
While meteors strike Earth every day, the vast majority of meteors burn up completely upon contact with the atmosphere. The moon, however, has only a very tenuous exosphere, which means that meteors that would not reach Earth’s surface commonly impact the Moon, creating its cratered appearance. These rocks constantly pound the lunar surface, sometimes breaking it down into fine particles or lunar soil, reports Space.com.
Capturing these events also has scientific value, as it helps scientists to know the rate of impacts on the lunar surfaceeven more relevant now that the US and other countries are preparing to send astronauts to the Moon.
