While the centre of much of the universe were trained on the Moon during January ’s lunar occultation an attention - essay bit of space debris made an show , creating a flashobserved from Morocco to California . Now astronomer have revealed the nature of the aim in question , include its focal ratio , size and the volcanic crater it leave behind .
Objects prominent enough to raise craters hit the Moon quite often . like objects bite up in theEarth ’s atmospherefrequently , after all . miss such protection , the damage these object do to the lunar surface is seeable through any scope .
However , January 21 this year was the first confirm record book of a shooting star smasher go on during a lunar occultation . In theMonthly notice of the Royal Astronomical Society , the University of Huelva’sProfessor Jose Maria Madiedoreports the flash from the wallop lasted 0.28 seconds , peaking with the brightness of a magnitude 4.2 star – easy seeable under dark condition if you were look in the right place , even without equipment .
Based on the brightness at dissimilar wavelengths of light Madiedo concludes ejected materials reached a temperature of 5,700 Kelvin ( 9,800 ºF ) , which by sheer conjunction touch that of the Sun ’s surface .
The authors predict a volcanic crater diameter of between 10 and 15 meters ( 33 - 50 invertebrate foot ) depending on the density of the impactor . This is far too lowly to be picked up by Earth - based telescopes , but it may be possible to encounter it by compare photographs taken by lunar orbiter before and after the event .
The impact speed was work out at 17 km per second ( 61,000 km / total heat or 38,000 miles per time of day ) , and the bulk estimated at 45 kilograms ( 100 pound ) . The vigour released was equivalent to 1.5 tons of TNT . If you ever think you ’re too small to make a difference in the world , commend that something that in all probability weighs less than you was visualise by the entire earth , although confessedly it was traveling rather tight to do it .
Many of Earth ’s meteoroid fare from cascade , which in turn can be traced back to the time out up of specific comet . However , the theme reports everything we know about the timing and fix of this impingement is inconsistent with any known meteor exhibitioner , leading the generator to claim 99 percent confidence this was a “ sporadic ” objective whose origins ca n’t be identified .
“ Observing flashes is a neat way to try our ideas on precisely what happen when a meteorite collides with the Moon , ” Madiedo enjoin in astatement .
A 2nd flash was also reported by the Royal Observatory in Greenwich , but none of the other photographic camera trained on the Moon at the clip picked it up . accordingly , the authors believe it is more potential to represent light ponder from a go orbiter or a cosmic ray than a second meteorite smasher .
