19 May 2013
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An artist’s concept of a meteoroid hitting the Moon
Credit: NASA
On 17 March 2013, astronomers working with NASA detected the collision of a meteoroid with the Moon. The impact was observed as a bright flash on the Moon, lasting about one second, due to the explosion of the meteoroid. It was visible to the unaided eye. The impacting object had a mass of 40 kg, and was less than one meter wide. It hit the lunar surface at nearly 100,000 km/h. Its explosion released energy equivalent to 5 tons of TNT.
For eight years, NASA astronomers have been monitoring Moon, to detect the flashes of meteoroids striking its surface. They have recorded hundreds of these flashes, but the last event was the brightest ever.
References
NASA
www.nasa.gov/
Aymen Mohamed Ibrahem
Senior Astronomy Specialist