March 17, 2013 Lunar Impact Forms a New Crater

  • Released Tuesday, March 17th, 2015
  • Updated Tuesday, November 14th, 2023 at 12:05AM
  • ID: 4242

Artist's conception of the March 17, 2013 lunar impact as seen from near the impact site in Mare Imbrium.
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On March 17, 2013, a NASA telescope that monitors the night side of the Moon recorded a bright flash in Mare Imbrium, at about 21°N, 24°W. The flash was one of the brightest ever recorded, and it was caused by the impact of a meteoroid estimated to be roughly a foot (30 to 40 cm) wide and just under a hundred pounds (40 kg), hitting the Moon at 60,000 miles per hour (25 km/sec).

A few months after the impact, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) camera team (LROC) found the crater formed by the impact. They compared LRO images taken before and after the impact and found a new crater 18 meters (60 feet) wide, with rays of ejecta that extend several kilometers.

Artist's conception of the March 17, 2013 lunar impact as seen from Earth.

Video of the March 17 impact taken by the lunar impact monitoring program at NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, registered to a visualization of the Moon as it appeared at the time of the impact. The video has been slowed by a factor of 3.

Before and after images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter narrow-angle camera showing the new crater formed by the March 17 impact. This pair is at the original resolution of roughly 1.3 meters per pixel. The before image is cropped from M183689789L taken February 12, 2012. The after image is from M1129645568L taken July 28, 2013.

Before and after images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter narrow-angle camera showing the new crater formed by the March 17 impact. This pair is at the original resolution of roughly 1.3 meters per pixel. The before image is cropped from M183689789L taken February 12, 2012. The after image is from M1129645568L taken July 28, 2013.

Before and after images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter narrow-angle camera showing the new crater formed by the March 17 impact, centered on the crater and magnified 4x from the original resolution of roughly 1.3 meters per pixel. The before image is cropped from M183689789L taken February 12, 2012. The after image is from M1129645568L taken July 28, 2013.

Before and after images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter narrow-angle camera showing the new crater formed by the March 17 impact, centered on the crater and magnified 4x from the original resolution of roughly 1.3 meters per pixel. The before image is cropped from M183689789L taken February 12, 2012. The after image is from M1129645568L taken July 28, 2013.

An animated illustration of a few of the new crater sites found by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter camera team.

For More Information

See http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/770

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