Showing posts with label Largest. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Largest. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Biggest Meteor Ever Recorded Hits Moon | VIDEO
An Earth-based observatory has published video footage of a 400 kg meteor ramming into the moon at a speed of 61,000 kilometers per hour. The meteor was ten times larger than those previously recorded and left behind a 40-meter-wide crater.
"This is the largest, brightest impact we have ever observed on the Moon," said Jose Madiedo of the MIDAS project, who said he “couldn’t imagine” such a collision before seeing it appear on his screen on September 11, 2013.
While the meteor was the weight of a compact car, it was traveling at a speed of 61,000 kilometers per hour (38,000 mph), creating a 'white hot' flash upon contact.
Scientists at MIDAS, which has been studying lunar collisions since 2009, say the crash released energy equivalent to 15 tons of TNT. The explosion would have been visible with the naked eye from Earth. . . .
