NASA scientist Robert Wagner made an unexpected discovery during a routine analysis of a giant Moon map. While examining data on his computer, he identified a large bright spot encircled by a dark halo. This unusual feature indicates that the lunar surface in that region has been disturbed. The finding highlights the ongoing exploration and study of the Moon’s geology, revealing new insights into its surface characteristics.
Scientists reported the discovery in Science Advances. By comparing images of the Moon taken before and after the change, Wagner realised that he had found the largest newly formed crater ever discovered in the solar system. Scientists estimate that an impact of this size happens on the Moon about once in a century or even longer.
The impact created a crater 728 feet wide, about the length of two football fields. For more than 17 years, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the Moon and using its seven instruments to study its topography, surface composition, temperature and radiation environment. During the mission, the spacecraft’s team has identified at least 1,000 new impact craters and flagged 100,000 more surface changes caused by objects hitting the Moon or debris thrown out after impacts.
Wagner, an image-processing specialist from Intuitive Machines who works with data from NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) system, said that he stopped everything and began investigating the spot.
