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Japanese Astronomer Films Two Lunar Impact Flashes Days Apart

Verification now hinges on new Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images.

Overview

  • Daichi Fujii recorded bright impact flashes on October 30 at 20:33 JST and November 1 at 20:49 JST, sharing the videos from his 20 cm telescope on X.
  • The first flash appeared east of the Gassendi crater and the second was seen near Oceanus Procellarum on the Moon’s darkened limb.
  • Preliminary calculations indicate the October 30 impactor was about 0.18–0.2 kilograms, struck at roughly 27 km/s, and likely produced a crater around three meters wide.
  • The timing and geometry point to the Southern or Northern Taurid meteor streams as probable sources for the meteoroids.
  • NASA has not publicly verified the events, and researchers are awaiting LRO follow-up to locate and size the fresh craters and refine the impact energy estimates.