Astronomers have recorded a car-sized meteorite crashing into the Moon which created the longest and brightest lunar impact ever that was visible from Earth.
The meteorite weighing almost half a tonne hit the lunar surface in September last year, in Mare Nubium, or Sea of Clouds, a massive impact basin itself, one that filled with lava billions of years ago. This molten rock then froze in place, erasing much of the old craters that then populated the basin.
It now stretches across some 95,000 square miles (245,000 square kilometres) of the southern left portion of the moon’s face and it is easily identified with the naked eye or binoculars as a visibly dark patch on the face of the moon.
The impact produced an extraordinary flash which is the longest and brightest ever recorded on the Moon, the astronomers said.
This artwork depicts the blast formed from an impacting meteor on the lunar surface. Credit: NASA
