Japanese astronomers captured the telltale flash of a meteorite hitting the Moon, causing a brief flash on the night side of its celestial neighbor.
Daichi Fujii, a curator at the Hiratsuka City Museum, installed surveillance cameras to record the event. moon.
The time of the flash was February 23 at 20:14:30.8 Japan Standard Time (7:14 am, or 1114 GMT). meteorite According to Fujii, it appears to have impacted near the Eiderer L crater, slightly northwest of the Pitiscus crater.
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Meteor travel on average At approximately 30,000 mph (48,280 kph), or 8.3 miles per second (13.4 km/s). Their high-velocity collisions generate intense heat, creating craters and brilliant flashes of visible light. If the lunar impact is large enough and occurs in the region facing the Earth during the lunar nighttime, it can be seen from Earth, as captured above.
The newly created crater could be about 12 meters (39 feet) in diameter and could eventually be imaged by NASA. lunar reconnaissance orbiter Or India’s Chandrayaan February probe, said Fujii.
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Meteorites hit the Earth every day, but most of them burn up completely when they hit the atmosphere. However, the moon has only a very thin exosphere. That is, meteors that do not reach the surface of the Earth usually hit the Moon, creating a cratered appearance. These rocks constantly pound the moon’s surface, sometimes breaking it into pieces into lunar soil.
Capturing these events It also has scientific value, helping scientists know the rate of impact on the Moon. send astronauts to the moon.
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