Scientists believe the crater was caused by a space fragment the size of a three- to six-story building
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Intuitive Machines via AP
NEED TO KNOW
- Scientists have discovered a massive new crater on the moon that was created by a rare impact in 2024
- Researchers say an impact of that size on the moon only occurs about once every 132 years
- The impact altered a much larger area around the crater, potentially offering scientists valuable information about future moon landings
Scientists have discovered a massive new crater on the moon that’s bigger than the Roman Colosseum.
The crater, which measures about 728 feet across and 141 feet deep, was created sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, according to a study published in Science Advances on Sept. 16.
Researchers believe a fragment of an asteroid or a comet, possibly comparable in size to a three- to six-story building, struck the lunar surface and created the crater, per a recent NASA blog on the findings.
Scientists said an impact of that size occurs on the moon only about once every 132 years.
“This event constitutes a statistically rare, effectively once-in-a-lifetime observation,” researchers wrote.
Despite the size of the collision, the impact itself was not detected when it happened.
Robert Wagner, an image-processing specialist from Intuitive Machines who works with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, noticed evidence of the crater while reviewing images of the moon on Oct. 24, 2025.
“I just stopped, dropped everything and started looking into what that spot was,” Wagner said, per NASA.
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/Intuitive Machines via AP
By comparing images taken before and after the apparent surface change, Wagner and other researchers determined that a new crater had formed.
“It was by far the most obvious impact debris pattern I’ve ever seen in one of these images,” Wagner recalled.
The study also determined that the collision altered an area far larger than the crater itself and found surface changes extending more than 1,000 times the crater’s radius.
Scientists named the crater McGetchin, in honor of the late Thomas McGetchin, a lunar scientist and volcanologist who once served as director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute.
A separate study, also published in Science Advances on Sept. 16, examined how the impact changed the physical and thermal properties of the lunar surface around the crater.
The study’s authors identified a roughly 4-mile-wide “cold spot” surrounding McGetchin.
According to the second study, the affected area is about 14 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit colder than nearby terrain at night.
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The study also found evidence that the impact altered the upper layers of regolith — the moon’s loose, rocky surface material — leaving the disturbed material less dense and therefore less able to retain heat.
The findings could have implications for future missions to the moon.
NASA noted that changes to the density and physical properties of lunar soil could affect how rover wheels travel across disturbed areas. Understanding how far debris can spread from an impact could also help scientists assess potential risks to future equipment and infrastructure on the moon’s surface.
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