spacetoday.net: Astronomers observe largest recorded meteor impact on the Moon

Astronomers observe largest recorded meteor impact on the Moon

Posted: Tue, Feb 25, 2014, 7:38 AM ET (1238 GMT)
Moon impact from September 2013 (Univ. of Huelva and Inst. of Astrophs. Andalusia)

Spanish astronomers announced they detected what they believe to be the largest meteor impact on the surface of the Moon ever recorded. In a paper published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and announced Monday, astronomers detected a bright flash in telescopic observations of the Moon in September 2013. That flash was bright enough to be seen with the naked eye and its afterglow lasted for eight seconds. Astronomers estimate the flash was caused when a small asteroid, about 0.6 to 1.2 meters in diameter and weighing 400 kilograms, crashed into the lunar surface in the vicinity of Mare Nubium at a speed of 61,000 kilometers per hour.