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NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has revealed evidence of an exceptionally powerful impact on the Moon, exposing a newly formed crater so large that scientists estimate an event of comparable scale occurs only about once every century. The crater, named McGetchin in honor of planetary scientist Thomas McGetchin, measures approximately 222 meters across and reaches an estimated depth of 43 meters\u2014making it wider than the Roman Colosseum. Researchers determined that the collision happened sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, when an asteroid or comet fragment possibly comparable in size to a multistory building struck the lunar surface at tremendous speed.<\/p>\n
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No telescope or eyewitness recorded the moment of impact. Instead, scientists discovered the aftermath by comparing images captured before and after the event by NASA\u2019s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been mapping the Moon since 2009. The collision excavated huge quantities of rock and dust, scattering material across a region extending for more than 100 kilometers. Thermal observations also revealed a \u201ccold spot\u201d roughly seven kilometers wide surrounding the crater. This does not mean the impact produced permanent ice. Researchers believe the collision loosened and expanded the upper layer of lunar soil, reducing its ability to store heat during the lunar night and leaving it cooler than the more compact terrain nearby. The discovery offers an unusually detailed natural experiment because scientists possess extensive observations of the site from before the crater existed.<\/p>\n
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By comparing those records with new images, they can investigate how impacts reshape the lunar surface, distribute debris and alter the physical properties of the regolith. Such information is increasingly important as governments and private companies plan long-term missions, equipment installations and eventually inhabited bases on the Moon. Even relatively small objects can strike without warning because the Moon has no substantial atmosphere to burn them up. However, the dramatic thumbnail declaring \u201c24 Hours to Impact\u201d is misleading. NASA has not announced that a massive asteroid will hit the Moon this week, and the glowing, cracked lunar surface shown in the image is digitally created artwork rather than a scientific forecast.<\/p>\n
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The McGetchin impact already occurred in 2024; it is the discovery and detailed analysis that have made news now. Astronomers have also ruled out a previously discussed 2032 lunar collision involving asteroid 2024 YR4 after new James Webb Space Telescope observations refined its trajectory. The Moon is constantly bombarded by tiny meteoroids, and small flashes are occasionally recorded by monitoring telescopes, but a crater of McGetchin\u2019s size is extraordinarily uncommon on a human timescale.<\/p>\n