A Japanese Astronomer Documents Rare Sightings On The Surface Of The Moon

The light flashes were caused by space rocks striking the surface of the moon at high speed, causing rapid but dazzling light explosions.

Fujii captured these collisions using cameras pointed at the night side of the moon, and shared the stunning videos on his account on the “X” platform.

The first collision occurred at 8:30 pm JST on October 30, while the second collision occurred at 8:49 pm JST on November 1.

According to Fujii, the first flash appeared east of the Gassendi crater. Based on his calculations, it is likely that the impact object was part of an eruption meteor stream, as it collided with the Moon at a speed of 27 km/s and at an angle of 35 degrees.

The mass of the meteorite is estimated at about 0.2 kg, which created a crater approximately 3 meters wide and produced a flash that lasted for only 0.1 second.

As for the second flash, it appeared west of the Ocean of Storms, one of the largest lunar seas.

This observation is the latest in a series of Fujii observations of lunar collisions, as he has become one of the most prominent recorders of such events. “I started monitoring lunar impact flashes around 2011, and I have been monitoring regularly since 2020,” Fujii says.

He adds: “Using my telescope, which has a diameter of 20 cm, I usually detect one impact flash every few dozen observing hours. Since the thin crescent is only visible for a short time and is often low in the sky where thin clouds are common, I detect a few dozen flashes annually.”

Fujii has so far recorded 60 impact flashes in total.

Unlike our planet, which is protected by a thick atmosphere that turns most meteorites into ash before they reach Earth, the Moon’s atmosphere is almost non-existent, which means there is nothing to slow down incoming meteorites. They strike its surface at speeds ranging from 20 to 72 km/s, releasing powerful explosions of light and heat upon impact.

Such impacts can create craters tens of feet across, even from meteorites weighing only a few pounds. For example, a rock weighing just 5 kg could create a crater than 9 meters wide and eject than 75 metric tons of lunar soil and rock, according to NASA.

Source: Space