The Galileo spacecraft obtained this image of the crescent moon. The smallest features visible are 8 kilometers (5 miles) in size. Click on image for full size (118K TIF) NASA/JPL

Astronomers may have found the Moon's youngest crater! Created in 1953, the crater is believed to be the only one formed in recorded history.

In 1953, a flash was seen on the Moon, probably from the impact of a small asteroid, and Leon Stuart, an amateur astronomer, took a photograph that provides the only definite evidence of the impact. At that time, our telescopes were not powerful enough to see the crater formed by the impact, but now researchers, who are examining images from orbiting spacecraft, have found a small new crater in the same position as the flash.

Based on the 1953 photograph of the impact, the object that struck the Moon was probably about 300 meters across and its impact would have made a crater up to 2 km in size according to Dr. Bonnie Buratti of the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and Dr. Lane Johnson of Pomona College. If the object had struck the Earth instead of the Moon, it would have destroyed an area the size of a large city.

Images of the Moon from the Clementine mission show a 2-km-wide crater surrounded by a bright blue blanket of fresh lunar sub-soil at the exact location of the 1953 flash. According to scientists, this new small crater may be one of many. They believe small craters may be formed on the Moon every few decades, but this is the first one to have been found.

The Galileo spacecraft obtained this image of the crescent moon. The smallest features visible are 8 kilometers (5 miles) in size. Click on image for full size (118K TIF) NASA/JPL

Astronomers may have found the Moon’s youngest crater. Created in 1953, the crater is believed to be the only one formed in recorded history.

In 1953, a flash was seen on the Moon, probably from the impact of a small asteroid. Leon Stuart took a photograph of the flash that provides the only definite evidence of the impact.

Based on his 1953 photograph of the impact, scientists believe that the object that struck the Moon was probably about 300 meters across and its impact would have made a crater 1-2 km in size. If the object had struck the Earth instead of the Moon, the impact would have been so great that an area the size of a large city would have been destroyed.

At the time of the impact, our telescopes were not powerful enough to see the crater but now researchers examining images from orbiting spacecraft have found a small new crater in the same position as the flash. The images show a crater 2-km-wide, or about the size of New York’s Central Park, surrounded by a bright blue blanket of fresh lunar sub-soil at the exact location of the 1953 flash.

According to scientists, this new small crater may be one of many. They believe small craters may be formed on the Moon every few decades, but this is the first one to have been found.

The Galileo spacecraft obtained this image of the crescent moon. The smallest features visible are 8 kilometers (5 miles) in size. Click on image for full size (118K TIF) NASA/JPL

Astronomers may have found the Moon’s youngest crater. It formed in 1953 when the Moon was hit a small asteroid. From Earth the impact looked like a small flash of light on the Moon.

Scientists believe the object that hit the Moon was probably the size of about 3 football fields and its impact made a crater 2 km in size, about the size of New York’s Central Park. They have found pictures of the Moon surface that show the new crater surrounded by a bright blue blanket of lunar soil.

If the object had struck the Earth instead of the Moon, the impact would have been so great that an area the size of a large city would have been destroyed.