Satellite finds largest newly formed crater in solar system
Imagery from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter revealed a newly formed lunar crater named McGetchin that appeared between April 11 and May 22, 2024. An object roughly 10–20 metres wide struck east of Mare Crisium, creating a 222-metre-wide, 43-metre-deep crater, blanketing terrain with ejecta out to over 350 metres and producing a roughly 7-kilometre cold spot detected by Diviner. McGetchin is the largest newly discovered impact in the solar system, more than three times the size of the previous 70-metre record, and models indicate such impacts on the Moon occur about once every 132 years, offering rare scientific data.
A 222-metre crater named McGetchin formed on the Moon in 2024.
Context
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter was launched in 2009 to map the Moon. Over 17 years it found at least 1,000 new craters. Teams will analyse the impactor details and publish a research paper.
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