Orpington Astronomical Society

Astronomy => In the Media... => Topic started by: Rick on Feb 24, 2014, 16:07:05

Title: 'Biggest observed meteorite impact' hits Moon
Post by: Rick on Feb 24, 2014, 16:07:05
'Biggest observed meteorite impact' hits Moon

Spanish astronomers spotted a meteorite with a mass of about half a tonne crashing into the lunar surface last September.

They say the collision would have generated a flash of light so bright that it would have been visible from Earth.

The event is reported in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society (http://mnras.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2014/02/19/mnras.stu083).

"This is the largest, brightest impact we have ever observed on the Moon," said Prof Jose Madiedo, of the University of Huelva in south-western Spain.

More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-26325934
Title: Re: 'Biggest observed meteorite impact' hits Moon
Post by: mickw on Feb 24, 2014, 19:04:39
And it's taken over 5 months to report it ?
:roll:
Title: Re: 'Biggest observed meteorite impact' hits Moon
Post by: Rick on Feb 24, 2014, 19:39:44
I figure that report's come out of an RAS press release folowing publication of a (presumably peer-reviewed) paper in the RAS journal. So yeah, the event was a few months back, and it's taken a while to figure out for sure what caused it...