New 222-metre crater formed on Moon in 2024

A 222-metre-wide crater formed on the Moon in spring 2024, making it the largest new crater observed in the Solar System in recent years, ERR reports, citing a new study.

US scientists identified the crater by comparing earlier and later images and thermal data from a probe orbiting the Moon.

The impact, which created the McGetchin crater, was an exceptionally rare event. Based on existing models, an impact of this size occurs on the Moon only once every 132 years on average.

The crater is 43 metres deep and sent a 13-metre boulder flying onto its rim. Its effects extended far beyond the visible hole: the impact disturbed the surface across a radius of more than 100 kilometres and roughened the terrain more than 120 kilometres away.

A seven-kilometre-wide cold spot formed around the impact site. At night, the area is eight to nine degrees colder than the surrounding ground because the collision churned up the Moon’s loose upper layer of dust, known as regolith. The fluffier material acts as better insulation but cannot retain heat collected during the day, so it cools faster at night.

The impact occurred precisely at the boundary between an old lava field and mountainous terrain. It exposed materials of different shades and destroyed many smaller, older craters in its path.

The researchers published their findings in two articles in the journal Science Advances.