* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Lunar impact 17.03.13

Blobrana · L

An automated telescope monitoring the moon has captured images of a 40kg rock slamming into the lunar surface, creating a bright flash of light.
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Blobrana · L

For the past 8 years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the Moon for signs of explosions caused by meteoroids hitting the lunar surface. "Lunar meteor showers" have turned out to be more common than anyone expected, with hundreds of detectable impacts occurring every year. They've just seen the biggest explosion in the history of the program.

Spoiler

"On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium . It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before" - Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office

These false-color frames extracted from the original black and white video show the explosion in progress. At its peak, the flash was as bright as a 4th magnitude star.

3:50:55UTC , 17 March, 2013 (Ed ~ updated)

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