METEORITE HITS ECLIPSED MOON
23 Jan 2019, 00:49 UTC
Hey Space Placers!It is being reported that a meteorite hit the Moon while it was totally eclipsed. Multiple reports from observers as well as photographic evidence seem to indicate that this was in fact a real impact.The Moon is monitored during favorable lunar surface viewing conditions - when the Moon's phase has large areas not in sunlight- with telescopes and sensitive cameras to be on the lookout for such Lunar Transient Phenomena. There have been hundreds of impacts detected. These are small impacts and nothing that we could see with our eyes alone from Earth.It is worth noting that the impact rate picks up during meteor showers which makes sense as Earth and the Moon are moving through large debris fields left by comets and an asteroid.Of course Earth gets bombarded 24 hours a day like the Moon but our atmosphere vaporizes the incoming meteors. Occasionally something large enough to explode and produce meteorites gets through and grabs our attention.Sky Guy in Buenos Aires
