Meteoroid Causes Moon Explosion |
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Written by spacetravel.org
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Sunday, 08 January 2006 18:50 |
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NASA scientists have witnessed an explosion on the moon, equal in energy to about 70 kilograms of TNT, near the edge of Mare Imbrium. The explosion was caused by a meteoroid crashing into the Moon.
It is believed that the meteoroid was probably a taurid, part of an annual meteor shower active at the time of the strike. Taurids fell toward both the Earth and the Moon in late October and early November. The Earth has an atmosphere which intercepts and vaporises the meteoroids before they reach the surface. The Moon, however, has no atmosphere, so the meteoroids explode on its surface.
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