Slashdot Mirror


Fifty Year Old Moon Mystery Explained

ekarjala writes "This article from NewScientist.com explains that a "flash" on the moon's surface that (captured by an amateur photographer 50 years ago) was probably the result of a 20 meter asteroid hitting the moon's surface."

1 of 43 comments (clear)

  1. Other recorded lunar impacts by Viadd · · Score: 5, Interesting
    In 1999 and 2001, I and other amateur astronomers recorded the flashes from Leonid Meteors hitting the Moon. These flashes were videorecorded and confirmed by multiple observers simultaneously.

    The meteors in these cases were in probably in the 10 kg range, and the craters they produced were probably a few meters across (not large enough to see from the ground or any lunar orbiter we are likely to launch any time soon).