NASA scientist discovers massive new moon crater bigger than the Colosseum
NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter found a 728-foot-wide crater formed by an impact two years ago, a once-in-a-lifetime discovery.
What to know
- A NASA scientist discovered a 728-foot-wide crater on the moon formed between April and May 2024 that went undetected for two years until spotted during routine imagery analysis.
- Impact craters of this magnitude are expected to occur only once every 132 years on the moon, making this a statistically rare, once-in-a-lifetime observation.
- The crater, named McGetchin, is the largest new crater found by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in its 17 years of continuous moon surface monitoring.
- The impact was likely caused by an object roughly the size of a six-story building, and the crater is larger than a football field and deeper than three stacked school buses.
“The moon has more than 2 million craters on its surface, but the overwhelming majority of the big ones happened long before humans ever started looking at it.”
CNET, Science publication · CNET ↗
Robert Wagner NASA scientistTom McGetchin Lunar scientist (deceased)NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Satellite instrument
How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesvideosposts
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NASA names crater McGetchin after lunar scientist
NASA officially names the newly discovered crater McGetchin, honoring Tom McGetchin, a scientist who directed the Lunar Science Institute beginning in 1977 until his death in 1979.
“I just stopped, dropped everything, and started looking into what that spot was.”
— Robert Wagner, NASA scientist · source -
first by Qazinform, 6d ago · also TPI Media Group, Washington Times, CNET, The West Australian, Engadget, The Hindu +5
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first by KGET.com, 4d ago · also CP24, CTV News, CNN, Yahoo News Canada, Yahoo, KARK +1
2 more headlines
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NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter discovered McGetchin crater, the largest newly formed crater ever spotted in the solar system! Formed in early 2024, scientists estimate an impact of this massive scale happens on the Moon only about once every century. 🌕💥
2 more of the top 3 · 3 posts in this stretch
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A New Lunar Crater: McGetchin Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Intuitive Machines Explanation: A once-in-a-lifetime crater has appeared on the Moon! A comet or asteroid roughly the size of a humpback whale (approximately 10-20 meters, 30-60 feet) crashed into the Moon sometime between April and May of 2024. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), with its…
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NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has spotted a massive new crater on the Moon that scientists say was created in a rare, once-in-a-century impact. The newly named McGetchin crater is 728 feet wide — about the length of two football fields — and 141 feet deep, NASA said in a release. It is the largest newly formed impact crater ever found in the…
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background
Wagner publishes findings in Science Advances — Robert Wagner publishes his discovery and analysis in a peer-reviewed article in Science Advances. The article documents the crater's dimensions, the estimated impact date, and statistical analysis showing such impacts occur roughly once every 132 years on the moon.
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NASA scientist discovers the crater during routine data check
NASA scientist Robert Wagner spots the previously undetected crater while conducting a routine data-quality check on Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter imagery. Wagner immediately investigates the anomaly and begins detailed analysis.
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first by Lunar and Planetary Institute, 6d ago
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background
Impact object hits the moon creating the crater — An object roughly the size of a six-story building impacts the lunar surface, creating a crater 728 feet wide and 141 feet deep. The impact likely occurred sometime between April 11, 2024, and May 22, 2024.
Also covered reported alongside — the timeline has no entry for these yet
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first by ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 6d ago · also ABC Australia
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first by Live Science, 1d ago
and 5 smaller pieces