Researchers using NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have discovered a massive new impact crater on the moon, which represents the largest recently formed crater found in the entire solar system. The feature, named McGetchin, was identified by LRO researcher Robert Wagner while he was analyzing scan data of the lunar surface.
Dimensions and Formation
The crater emerged on the eastern edge of the moon between April 11 and May 22, 2024. It is approximately 728 feet (about 222 meters) wide and 141 feet deep. To provide scale, researchers noted the diameter is just over the length of two football fields, and the depth could accommodate three vertically stacked school buses.
Wagner and his colleagues estimate the crater was formed when a comet or asteroid roughly the size of a three- to six-story building struck the lunar surface at high speed. According to a paper published in the journal Science Advances, such an event is estimated to occur only once every 132 years, or roughly once per century. Because the moon lacks an atmosphere to slow or burn up incoming space rocks, it remains vulnerable to all impactors.
The crater was named in honor of Tom McGetchin, a pioneering American planetary geology scientist who died in 1979. High-resolution images from the LRO show the crater as a large bright spot surrounded by a dark halo, a result of fresh interior soil being ejected outward and reflecting sunlight more effectively than the surrounding terrain.
Geological Impact and Research
The impact caused significant disruption to the lunar surface, with ejected material disturbing the region more than 75 miles from the crater. Using the LRO’s thermal instrument, Diviner, researchers identified a four-mile-wide “cold spot” around the feature. This area is approximately 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than its surroundings at night because the impact “fluffed up” the regolith, reducing the moon dirt’s density and its ability to retain heat.
Because the McGetchin crater is a freshly dug terrain, it has exposed subsurface materials that have not been subjected to weathering or space radiation for hundreds of millions of years. This provides primary data for analyzing the moon’s internal geological structure. Additionally, the discovery may serve as core data for assessing impact risks to ensure astronaut safety and secure base placement for future missions, including China’s lunar base construction and the U.S.-led Artemis crewed exploration project.
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