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The crater was identified after comparing images of the Moon captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The structure measures 222 meters (728 feet) wide and 43 meters (141 feet) deep, appearing after an impact that occurred in 2024 and representing an event that researchers estimate happens only once every century, on average.
An unusually large newly formed crater was identified on the Moon after image processing specialist Robert Wagner noticed a significant alteration on the lunar surface during a data review. The impact occurred between April 11 and May 22, 2024, but the mark only drew his attention in October 2025.
According to Popular Science, in a publication dated September 17, 2026, the investigation confirmed a crater measuring 222 meters (728 feet) wide and 43 meters (141 feet) deep, created by the collision of an asteroid or comet estimated to have dimensions comparable to a building. Scientists consider impacts of this scale to be events that occur approximately once per century.
Specialist Found Bright Circle That Did Not Appear in Previous Images
The discovery began during a routine task. Robert Wagner was analyzing the quality of images obtained by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a NASA spacecraft observing the lunar surface since 2009, when a distinctive formation caught his attention.
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On October 24, 2025, he observed a large, bright circle surrounded by a darker area. The structure did not match the patterns he was used to finding during reviews, and the possibility of a recent change prompted him to halt his remaining work for further investigation.
Confirming a New Crater Required Pixel-by-Pixel Analysis
Identifying a change in two photographs of the Moon is not enough to classify it immediately as the result of an impact. Variations in lighting, shadows, and image conditions can create hundreds of signals that appear to be real changes but are not.
Therefore, Wagner began examining the records in detail. The confirmation came after identifying the pattern of material ejected from the impacted area, formed when the collision displaced regolith and other fragments from the lunar surface around the new crater.
The results ruled out the possibility of merely a lighting effect. The investigation showed that a large space rock had indeed struck the Moon, producing a mark far larger than recent craters typically recorded by the mission.
Crater Measures 222 Meters Wide and 43 Meters Deep
The structure has been named McGetchin in honor of lunar scientist Tom McGetchin. Measurements indicate that the crater has a diameter of 222 meters and a depth of approximately 43 meters.
This size is striking as it corresponds, in width, to approximately two football fields placed end to end. Researchers describe it as the largest recently formed crater ever observed directly in the Solar System, making the site an unusual opportunity for study.
Scientists have also managed to narrow down the timing of the collision by comparing previous and subsequent records. Evidence suggests that the object struck the lunar surface between April 11 and May 22, 2024.
Space rock may be comparable in size to a building
The exact size of the object that created the crater is still being calculated. Available analyses indicate it could have been an asteroid or comet with dimensions comparable to those of a multi-story building.
Even an object much smaller than the resulting crater can release a huge amount of energy when it strikes the Moon at high speed. Since there is no dense lunar atmosphere capable of destroying or significantly slowing down these bodies before collision, they reach the surface directly.
Researchers are also working to more precisely determine the energy released during the event. This information could help reconstruct the trajectory, dimensions, and other characteristics of the rock responsible for the impact.
Smaller impacts occur frequently on the lunar surface
Although a crater of this size is exceptional, smaller collisions are part of lunar routine. The Moon virtually has no atmosphere, leaving its surface constantly exposed to small fragments, asteroids, and comets.
Estimates presented in the study indicate that around 140 objects roughly the size of a coffee table can strike the Moon every year. These impacts can form craters approximately 9 meters in diameter.
The event that created McGetchin, however, belongs to a different scale. A collision capable of producing a structure over 200 meters is considered extremely rare, which is why researchers associate similar occurrences with intervals on the order of a century.
Probe has already revealed thousands of changes on the lunar surface
The discovery was only possible due to the long history of observation provided by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Launched in 2009, the mission has accumulated records that allow comparisons of the same area of the Moon at different times.
Over the years, scientists have already used LRO data to identify at least a thousand relatively recent craters and approximately 100,000 changes on the surface caused by direct impacts or by fragments thrown during other collisions.
It is precisely this historical archive that allows researchers to discover when a given crater did not exist and establish a window for its formation. In the case of McGetchin, there were enough images to demonstrate that the alteration appeared only after the records of April 2024.
Region around the crater became about 9 °C colder at night
The collision not only altered the appearance of the surface. Observations conducted by the thermal instrument Diviner, also installed on the LRO, detected a region approximately 6.4 kilometers around the crater exhibiting different thermal behavior.
During the lunar night, this area exhibited a temperature about 9 °C lower than that of nearby regions. The explanation lies in the surface material disturbed by the force of the impact.
When the collision disrupted the regolith layers, the soil became looser. This disturbed material retains less heat than the surrounding ground, creating a thermal signature that provides scientists with another way to study the immediate consequences of the impact.
More detailed images could reveal the strength and size of the impact
The investigation is not over yet. The LRO has a narrow-angle camera capable of capturing surface details at a resolution of approximately three feet per pixel, equivalent to just under a meter.
These recordings will be used to examine the crater, the fragments scattered around it, and the changes brought to the soil with greater precision. The expectation is that new analyses will refine estimates about the size of the object and the energy released in the collision.
Understanding an impact observed practically since its formation provides a rare reference to compare with much older craters, whose history typically needs to be reconstructed after millions or billions of years of alterations.
A mark discovered by chance opened a rare opportunity for science
What started as a routine image review ended up revealing an event that could occur only once every century. A difference noticed by Robert Wagner led to the identification of a crater 222 meters wide, 43 meters deep, formed by an impact that took place just a few years before its discovery.
Now, the structure serves as a natural laboratory to understand what happens immediately after a large space rock hits the Moon. And it all began because a specialist noticed a mark in a photograph that simply wasn’t there before.
Did you imagine that a collision capable of creating a crater the size of two football fields could still happen on the Moon today? Share in the comments what caught your attention the most about this discovery.
