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Astronomers Catch Asteroid Striking Moon On Video

Posted by Soulskill on from the meteorite-indicted,-court-date-set dept.

spineas writes "A 4.5-foot-wide asteroid struck the moon in September 2013, and astronomers were lucky enough to catch the impact flash on video, now confirmed as the brightest ever witnessed from Earth. The Orlando Sentinel reports that the asteroid likely weighed nearly 900 pounds, and exploded on impact with the moon with the force of 15 tons of TNT."

1 of 69 comments (clear)

  1. Units by agm · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It seems backwards that a scientific organisation still uses the archaic units of feet, pounds and miles when describing an event such as this.