Japanese astronomer Daiichi Fujii captured a meteorite that hit the surface of the Moon and caused a brief flash on the night side of our closest celestial neighbor. The event was recorded thanks to cameras designed to monitor the moon, reports Space.com.
The impact of an asteroid with an estimated diameter of around 12 meters occurred February 23 at 20:14:30.8 JST (ie at 12:14 CET). The meteorite hit near Ideler L crater, located northwest of Pitiscus crater, Fujii said.
A moment of flash
On average, meteors move at a speed of approximately 48,280 km/h and when they collide with another object, they produce a large amount of heat with a visible flash. This also applies in this case, when an intense flash can be observed shortly after the impact.
Meteorite impacts on the Moon can also be observed from Earth if they are large enough and occur in an area facing Earth during a lunar night. A Japanese astronomer estimates that the newly formed crater could have about twelve meters in diameter.
Space probes will now focus on the impact site – specifically, the American Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter probe, moving in the orbit of the Moon, and the Indian lunar probe Chandrayaan 2, which in the past unsuccessfully tried to launch the Vikram module on the surface of our only natural satellite.
More common than on Earth
Countless objects of various sizes roam the universe. In the event that they collide with the Earth, they burn up in the vast majority of cases in its atmosphere. Only larger objects manage to reach the surfacewhile most often ending up (logically) in one of the oceans.
However, the Moon has a very thin exosphere (the outer region of the atmosphere that begins between 300 and 1,000 kilometers from the surface and extends up to 10,000 kilometers), which means that meteors that would not reach the Earth’s surface routinely hit the Moon’s surface and they create craters on it.
Asteroid impacts on the Moon are monitored using a variety of instruments, including probes and telescopes located on Earth. Scientists are also examining the material released by the impact to learn more about what is the composition of asteroids and what processes take place on the moon.
