A major lunar impact is expected at approximately 02:35 EDT (06:35 GMT) on Wednesday, creating a rare and exciting opportunity for both professional and amateur astronomers to observe a collision on the Moon.
“Something extremely large is about to hit the Moon. It poses no danger to Earth, so we can simply watch the event unfold,” said Dr Matt Bothwell, a public astronomer at the University of Cambridge.
The impact is expected to launch a vast plume of lunar dust, potentially rising 50 kilometres into space or even higher before spreading across the surrounding area, Bothwell explained.
Because the Moon has no atmosphere and much weaker gravity than Earth, the collision could be “more impressive than any similar explosion on Earth,” Bothwell said.
Unlike an object entering Earth’s atmosphere, nothing will significantly slow the impactor before it reaches the lunar surface. As a result, an estimated one million kilograms of debris could be blasted into space.
The lunar impact will not be visible to the naked eye from Earth. However, observers using powerful telescopes may be able to detect a brief flash of light from the Moon’s surface, Bothwell said.
Beyond the spectacle, the event could provide valuable scientific data. The impact offers researchers a rare chance to study how objects strike the Moon and how lunar material behaves after a high-energy collision.
Scientists are preparing to monitor the event in detail.
Large telescopes across the Americas, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and South Korea’s Danuri lunar probe are expected to track the flash, dust plume and newly formed crater. A citizen-science project is also encouraging experienced amateur astronomers to record the impact.
By observing the lunar dust plume as it rises and spreads, astronomers hope to transform this unexpected collision into a valuable natural experiment.
Measurements of how much debris is ejected, how high it travels and how it returns to the surface could improve models of lunar impacts. The event may also reveal what lies beneath the Moon’s surface, exposing fresh subsurface material at the impact site for the first time.
Source: www.bbc.co.uk