The Moon has always fascinated sky-watchers. It’s not easy to photograph, especially with a smartphone. But every now and then, something extraordinary happens. For instance, a Japanese astronomer captured two meteors hitting the Moon just days apart, creating new craters.
Daichi Fujii, who works at the Hiratsuka City Museum, is skilled in tracking these meteor impacts. On October 30, at 8:33 PM, he recorded a bright flash on the dark side of the Moon. Just two days later, on November 1, he did it again at 8:49 PM.
What makes these events special? On Earth, meteors usually burn up in our atmosphere. However, the Moon doesn’t have any atmosphere, allowing meteors to hit its surface directly, traveling at speeds of about 27 kilometers (17 miles) per second. This results in glowing craters that are sometimes visible from our planet.
Statistics show that the Moon is bombarded much more frequently than Earth. For every asteroid that hits our planet, about 20 hit the Moon. This highlights the Moon’s role as a natural shield against cosmic debris.
Fujii suspects these meteors may belong to either the Northern or Southern Taurids, a meteor shower that peaks in early November. It’s possible they are fragments from a comet, similar to one that exploded over Portugal recently.
Capturing these impacts isn’t just an exciting event for astronomers. It helps us understand the potential risks astronauts might face on the Moon and gives insights into how asteroid strikes have changed over time.
For more on this fascinating topic, check out NASA’s insights on lunar impacts here.
