Video: Astronomer Captures Flash After Meteorite Crashes Into Moon

Meteorites head towards Earth every day, the vast majority of them burn up completely while entering the atmosphere. However, the moon has only a very thin exosphere, which means that meteors collide with the lunar surface much more often.

Japanese astronomer Daichi Fujii, curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum, captured the fall of a meteorite on the surface of the moon, which caused a short flash on the Earth's satellite.

The time of the flash was recorded at 20:14:30.8 Japan Standard Time (11:14:30.8 GMT) on 23 February. The meteorite apparently fell near Ideler L crater, slightly north-west of Pitiscus Crater, Fujii said.

私の観測史上最大の月面衝突閃光を捉えることができました！2023年2月23日20時14分30.8秒に出現した月面衝突閃光を、平塚の自宅から撮影した様子です（実際の速度で再生）。なんと1秒以上も光り続ける巨大閃光でした。月は大気がないため流星や火球は見られず、クレーターができる瞬間に光ります。 pic.twitter.com/Bi2JhQa9Q0

— 藤井大地 (@dfuji1) February 24, 2023

According to the astronomer, the newly formed crater could be around 12 meters in diameter and its formation could be confirmed by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or India's Chandrayaan 2 lunar probe.

Meteorites fly at an average speed of about 48,000 kilometers per hour - 13.4 kilometers per second. Their high-speed impact generates intense heat, creates craters and emits a bright flash of visible light. Collisions with the moon can be seen from Earth if the meteor was large enough and occurred in an area that was facing Earth during the lunar night.