Scientists Identify a Newly Formed Lunar Crater from a Recent Impact

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 21:01:00 +0200

A newly discovered crater on the Moon has revealed that our nearest celestial neighbor is still changing. Using images captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, scientists compared photos taken between 2009 and 2012 and identified a fresh crater roughly 22 meters wide—about the size of a large house. Although no one witnessed the impact itself, the bright material ejected from the site made it stand out sharply from older, darker lunar regions. The new crater’s brightness results from exposed subsurface material that appears lighter than the weathered surface. Over time, this reflective quality will gradually fade due to the effects of space weathering—solar wind, micrometeorite impacts, and cosmic radiation—which darken the lunar soil. Studying newly formed craters like this one provides researchers with valuable information about how often impacts occur on the Moon and helps refine impact frequency models important for protecting spacecraft and future lunar missions. It al