NASA Orbiter Finds A New Impact So Large The Number Of Craters On The Moon Went Down
IFLScience • • science
Key Points:
- NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), launched in 2009, has been continuously mapping the Moon's surface for nearly 17 years, allowing scientists to detect changes such as new impact craters.
- At a recent Lunar and Planetary Sciences Meeting, astronomer Mark Robinson announced the discovery of a new, unusually large lunar crater measuring 225 meters in diameter, formed in late spring 2024.
- This crater is significantly larger than previous impacts observed by LRO, with models predicting such an event should occur approximately every 139 years, providing a rare opportunity to validate impact crater formation theories.
- The impact obliterated or degraded many smaller preexisting craters within two crater radii, consistent with ejecta distribution models, and the size of ejected boulders matched predictions based on power-law relations.
- The discovery underscores the importance of continuous lunar observation, enabling direct before-and-after comparisons that improve understanding of lunar geology and impact processes.
