Earlier than the Supermoon Confirmed Its Face It Flashed Us

The lunar floor isn’t pockmarked for no cause. Asteroids have peppered the moon since that sassy celestial physique got here into being some 4.5 billion years in the past. And simply final week, a museum curator and stargazer in Japan captured two of the newest lunar impacts and the flashes of sunshine coming off the moon as but more room rocks slammed into its barren face. Just because it was gearing up for its supermooning this week.

Daichi Fujii, the curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum, captured the cosmic impacts on October 30 and November 1 with an virtually 8 inch telescope he retains locked on the moon, posting the movies to his X account. “Last night, a lunar impact flash appeared on the night side of the waxing crescent moon!” he wrote on X, in response to a Google translation of his put up of the primary affect.

Fuji added that, given the place of that first strike, the flash could have resulted from an affect with particles that constitutes the Taurid meteor bathe, when rocks spew from Comet Encke because it streaks via area about 300 million miles from Earth. He advised Space.com that he calculated the possible weight of that first asteroid to be rather less than half a pound and its velocity to be about 60,000 miles per hour because it slammed into the darkish aspect of the moon.

Read extra: “The Violent Birth of the Moon”

The second flash Fuji captured, on November 1, occurred when one other asteroid struck the lunar floor. Whereas meteors that fall to Earth, with its thick ambiance, usually expend because of the intense friction generated by their atmospheric transit, asteroids that affect the moon are likely to strike the floor with full power.

Fuji is one thing of an professional on such lunar impacts. With his specialised setup, he has recorded and shared about 60 since 2011. “I want the public to enjoy science,” Fuji advised The New York Times.

Tracking such celestial interactions could also be greater than a curiosity, although. Information on the place, when, and the way the moon is pummeled with area rocks might assist decide the logistics of constructing and defending human outposts there sooner or later. “Understanding the frequency and energy of impact flashes can be used to inform the design and operation of lunar bases,” Fuji added.

Enjoying  Nautilus? Subscribe to our free e-newsletter.

Lead picture: Dylan O’Donnell / Wikimedia Commons.

• Bob Grant

  Posted on November 6, 2025

  Bob Grant is the deputy editor at Nautilus.