A meteorite striking the Moon was seen on film by a Japanese astronomer. Daichi Fujii, the astronomy curator at the Hiratsuka City Museum, captured the impact from his house in Hiratsuka.
“I was able to catch the biggest lunar impact flash in my observation history,” Fujii wrote on Twitter, as translated by Google. “This is a picture of the lunar impact flash that appeared at 20:14:30.8 on February 23, 2023, taken from my home in Hiratsuka (replayed at actual speed). It was a huge flash that continued to shine for more than 1 second. “
“Since the moon has no atmosphere, meteors and fireballs cannot be seen, and the moment a crater is formed, it glows.”
According to Fujii, this meteoroid (which is the term for meteors that are still in space) struck the moon close to the Pitiscus and Ideler L craters.
As you would have anticipated from its extensive cratering, the moon is frequently struck by meteors. In reality, the moon receives about 20 asteroids for every one that strikes Earth because of our obstructive atmosphere. Despite still being uncommon, it does occasionally happen during a lunar eclipse to capture them on camera.
