NASA discovers largest newly formed crater in solar system
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has detected the largest newly formed crater ever found in the solar system, created by a rare impact on the Moon between April 11 and May 22, 2024, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Officially named McGetchin after pioneering lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, the crater formed when a comet or asteroid possibly the size of a three- to six-story building struck the Moon’s eastern edge.
According to NASA, the impact created a crater about 728 feet (222 meters) wide and 141 feet (43 meters) deep, roughly the length of two football fields. Scientists estimate that an impact of this magnitude occurs on the Moon about once a century or even less often.
The crater was discovered by Robert Wagner, an image-processing specialist from Intuitive Machines who works with data from LRO’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera. During a routine data-quality check, Wagner noticed an unusually bright spot surrounded by a dark halo in a map of the Moon.
By comparing images taken before and after the impact, Wagner determined that the feature was newly formed.
LRO has been orbiting the Moon for more than 17 years and has identified at least 1,000 new impact craters and about 100,000 other surface changes caused by impacts and debris.
Follow-up observations by LRO’s Diviner thermal instrument revealed a 4-mile-wide (6.4-kilometer-wide) cold spot around McGetchin crater. At night, the area is about 16 degrees Fahrenheit (9 degrees Celsius) cooler than its surroundings.
Scientists say the cooling occurs because the impact fluffed up the lunar regolith, making it less dense and reducing its ability to retain heat. The finding shows that an impact can alter the Moon’s surface well beyond the crater itself, potentially affecting how rover wheels interact with the terrain.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that NASA had released a series of images showing a new crater on the Moon formed after part of a SpaceX rocket struck the lunar surface.
