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Meteorite smashed into Moon during January’s lunar eclipse at 38,000 miles an HOUR – creating 50ft crater
The incredible impact was caught live on camera
A ROGUE space rock that smashed into the Moon during January's lunar eclipse was travelling at around 38,000 miles an hour.
That's according to astronomers who have examined the rare footage to work out its speed – and the impact it had on the lunar surface.
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During the Super Blood Moon lunar eclipse on January 21, 2019, eagle-eyed viewers spotted a flash of light on the Moon.
Experts quickly determined that the flash was caused by a space rock crashing into the surface of the Moon.
Now that the dust has settled, Spanish space experts have been able to reexamine the data and find out more info about the impact.
Professor Jose Maria Madiedo of the University of Huelva and Dr Jose L Ortiz of the Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia believe that the impact would've created a 50-foot crater on the Moon.
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As the Moon has no atmosphere, even small space rocks can crash land on the surface without burning up.
And this rock would've been vapourised "instantaneously" at the impact site, according to a new paper published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.
Excitingly for astronomers, this event is extremely rare, creating a flash that lasted just 0.28 seconds.
It was the first ever filmed during a lunar eclipse, despite several earlier attempts.
"Something inside of me told me that this would be the time," Madiedo explained.
The astronomers observed the impact flash at multiple wavelengths (different colours of light), allowing for more detailed analysis.
This allowed them to determine that the rock had a mass of 45kg, measured 60cm across, and hit the Moon close to the crater Lagrange H.
According to the researchers, the impact energy was equivalent to 1.5 tonnes of TNT, creating a crater about the size of two double-decker buses side by side.
And the debris ejected would've potentially reached a peak temperature of 5,400 degrees Celcius – roughly the same as the surface of the Sun.
"It would be impossible to reproduce these high-speed collisions in a lab on Earth," said Madiedo.
"Observing flashes is a great way to test our ideas on exactly what happens when a meteorite collides with the Moon."
What is a Blood Moon? Lunar eclipses explained
Here's what you need to know...
The Earth is constantly rotating around the Sun, and the Moon is constantly rotating around the Earth.
Sometimes all three can align, placing the Earth directly between the Sun and the Moon in a straight line.
It means the Moon is in the darkest part of Earth's shadow – the "umbra".
And due to convenient sizing and distancing of all three objects, no sunlight can directly reach the Moon.
However, some sunlight is refracted by Earth's atmosphere, making the Moon appear reddish – hence the name "Blood Moon".
Lunar eclipses typically last just a few hours, and can be viewed from anywhere on the night side of Earth.
Because they're typically quite dim, it's also possible to view lunar eclipses without eye protection, which isn't the case with a solar eclipse.
There are three different types of lunar eclipse:
- Total lunar eclipse – This is where the Moon turns deep red, receiving only light that's passed through Earth's atmosphere.
- Penumbral lunar eclipse – This is when the Sun, Moon and Earth fail to form a perfect straight line, so the Moon only travels through the outer part of Earth's shadow. This means the Moon's surface is partly darkened.
- Partial lunar eclipse – This is when part of the Moon travels through Earth's full shadow, which results in part of the Moon being darkened.
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The stunning space event was live-streamed in detail by the Virtual Telescope Project and Los Angeles' Griffith Observatory.
And at 4:41am UK time on January 21, viewers spotted a flash of light on the Moon.
"This is the first time in the history of astronomy that a lunar impact flash [was] recorded during a lunar eclipse," said Jose Madiedo, an astronomer at Spain's University of Huelva, speaking to at the time.
Nasa video explains the natural phenomenon behind the Super Blue Blood Moon and Lunar Eclipse
Madiedo first documented the collision in a Twitter .
He revealed that the discovery was supported by MIDAS, his university's Moon Impacts Detection and Analysis System.
"We monitor the nocturnal region of the Moon to identify impact flashes.
"In this way, these flashes are well contrasted against the darker background," Madiedo told .
"So, we usually monitor the Moon about five days after the New Moon, and around five days before the New Moon. We also monitor during lunar eclipses, since during these eclipses the lunar ground is dark."
MIDAS uses telescopes with sensitive video cameras that record footage of the Moon.
This footage is then analysed by software that can automatically spot flashes from impacts, calculating where the collision took place.
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And space scientists have warned about a space rock called Apophis – named after the Egyptian god of evil – which could "smash into Earth in 2068".
Did you spot the space rock hitting the Moon during the eclipse? Let us know in the comments!
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