▲ Newly discovered crater on the moon
A crater formed by a massive celestial impact, which is as rare as "once a century," has been discovered on the surface of the moon.
It is the largest among the newly formed craters discovered in the solar system to date.
According to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and foreign media on the 17th (local time), the NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) research team discovered a gigantic new crater with a diameter of about 222 meters on the lunar surface and named it "McGetchin."
McGetchin is named after Dr. Thomas McGetchin (1936–1979), an American scientist who was a pioneer in planetary geology.
Discovered by LRO researcher Robert Wagner while analyzing the latest scan data of the lunar surface, the crater is estimated to have been created in the spring of 2024 when an asteroid or comet the size of a 3- to 6-story building collided with the lunar surface at high speed.
According to a paper published in the journal Science Advances, this crater is the largest among newly formed craters observed and recorded by humanity using space probes across the entire solar system.
In high-resolution camera images from the LRO, the crater was observed in the form of a "large bright spot surrounded by a dark halo."
This is because fresh soil from the interior was ejected outward upon impact, reflecting sunlight better than the surrounding area.
This discovery holds significant academic importance for future human lunar exploration projects and lunar geological research.
Earth has a thick atmosphere, so most space rocks burn up due to frictional heat or have their speed drastically reduced when entering the atmosphere.
On the other hand, the moon is in a near-vacuum state with almost no atmosphere, allowing even small fragments to collide directly with the surface at speeds of tens of kilometers per second without deceleration, creating massive pits.
In particular, unlike most lunar craters formed hundreds of millions of years ago, McGetchin is a freshly dug terrain formed just over two years ago.
Thanks to the exposure of fresh subsurface materials of the moon that have not been subjected to space radiation or weathering for hundreds of millions of years, it serves as valuable primary data for analyzing the moon's internal geological structure.
It can also be used as core data for assessing celestial impact risks to secure base placement and astronaut safety during future permanent lunar missions, such as the U.S.-led crewed lunar exploration project Artemis and China's lunar base construction.
(Photo: NASA/AP, Yonhap News)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.