New 728-foot lunar crater formed April to May 2024 undetected
A giant new crater, wider than the Roman Colosseum, was just spotted on the Moon.
It's 728 feet across and 141 feet deep, and formed sometime between April and May 2024 when a chunk of an asteroid or a comet slammed into the surface.
Surprisingly, no one noticed it at the time, even though events like this only happen about once every 132 years.
Crater named McGetchin creates cold spot
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, thanks to its discovery by Robert Wagner using lunar orbiter images.
The impact scattered debris over a huge area and created a "cold spot" where nighttime temperatures drop about 14 to 16 degrees Fahrenheit colder than nearby terrain at night.
Scientists say these changes could affect future Moon rovers and habitats, so keeping an eye out for fresh impacts is now even more important.