TEMPO.CO, Jakarta – Often hear news there meteorite which fell to Earth after hitting the atmosphere and burning up in the air. This time, a meteorite fell to the Moon and was recorded by a camera on Earth. An astronomer in Japan managed to catch the flash of a meteorite as it hit the Moon, recording it as a brief flash.
The astronomer was Daichi Fujii, curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum. He uses the camera installed to monitor the Moon. He explained that the flash occurred on February 23, 2023 at 20:14:30.8 Japanese Standard Time or 11.14 GMT or 18.14 WIB. “The meteorite appears to have hit near the Ideler L crater, slightly northwest of the Pitiscus crater,” Fujii said.
It is estimated that meteors move with an average speed of 48,280 kilometers per hour or 13.4 km/s. The impact of the high speed generates intense heat and creates an crater, while also providing a brilliant flash of visible light. Collision events on the Moon can indeed be seen from Earth, if the object is large enough and occurs in an area at night, and of course the location of the incident on the Moon is facing Earth.
The newly created crater by the meteorite impact can be about a dozen meters in diameter. According to Fujii, the crater may eventually be imaged by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter or India’s Chandrayaan 2.
Compared to on Earth, where most meteors burn up in the atmosphere, on the Moon there is only a very tenuous exosphere. That is, meteors that will not reach the Earth’s surface will generally be able to impact on the Moon. There it will create the appearance of craters as space rock continually hits the surface of the Moon.
These events certainly have scientific value and can help scientists study the extent of impacts on the surface of the Moon, which is increasingly relevant to the US and other countries preparing to send astronauts to Earth’s natural satellite.
SPACE
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