Lunar Impact Images

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Observers' Clear Sky Clocks      GOES Weather EAST      Apparent disk of the moon


A typical flash involves "a meteoroid the size of a softball hitting the Moon at 27 km/s and exploding with as much energy as 70 kg of TNT" and "the ejecta kicked out from an impact can travel hundreds of miles", says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office (MEO).    Here are a few recent articles at Science@NASA - Shooting Marbles at 16,000 mph and 100 Explosions on the Moon

Confirmed Lunar Impact

March 13, 2008 02:04:21UT

This impact event was also picked up in the three telescopes used by the Meteor Environment Office at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

Impact map ~ 78W 23S

Image of an earlier probable impact at 00:13:37UT March 13, 2008

Image of lunar impact March 13, 2008
Confirmed Lunar Impact March 13, 2008 02:04:21UT Animated GIF  Larger Image

Image of Confirmed Lunar Impact Dec 18, 2007
Confirmed Lunar Impact!
December 18, 2007, 01:08:41UT

Confirmed Lunar Impact

December 18, 2007 01:08:41UT

Full Image This impact was very dim for my setup. See the arrow pointing to the faint speck in the cropped image on the left.

Although I'm not sure, this was possibly picked up in four telescopes; two in Huntsville Al, one in Georgia and this one located in Maryland.

NASA - Lunar Impact Monitoring


Confirmed Lunar Impact

April 22, 2007 03:12:24UT

possibly a Lyrid, Imaged with an 8 inch Celestron and StellaCam II at prime focus. Bill Cooke and company at the NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at MSFC also picked up the flash on their instruments thus confirming the event.

The flash was recorded on two frames and is located just above and to the right of the center of the image.


My first lunar impact
Click for larger image  Animation


NASA - Lunar Impact Monitoring     Monitoring the moon for meteoroid impacts will help determine the hazardous they will present to astronauts during prolonged stays on the lunar surface.

Download LunarScan 1.3 (784 Kb Zip) Impact detection software by Pete Gural.    - Use this to process your lunar impact video.


Lunar CRater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) Observational Campaign - In 2009, the booster that delivers the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) to the moon, will be smashed into a permanently shadowed crater near the lunar south pole in an attempt to excavate signs of water ice and other stuff. An observational campaign will be in place to solicit observations of the effects of the impact which should be visible with the right equipment. Here's a chance to use your telescope for science.

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