WATCH | Japanese astronomer captures meteor crashing into moon

A Japanese astronomer captured an incredible moment in which a meteorite smashed into the surface of the moon, creating a crater in the natural satellite.

On February 23, a Japanese astronomer captured the huge flash of light which was described as a likely 'lunar impact flash' as the meteorite collided with the moon.

Hiratsuka City Museum's head of astronomy Daichi Fuji caught the split-second film around 8.15 pm (11.15 GMT) from his home located in Hiratsuka, Japan.

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"I was able to catch the biggest lunar impact flash in my observation history! This is a picture of the lunar impact flash that appeared at 20:14:30.8 on February 23, 2023, taken from my home in Hiratsuka (replayed at actual speed). It was a huge flash that continued to shine for more than 1 second. Since the moon has no atmosphere, meteors, and fireballs cannot be seen, and the moment a crater is formed, it glows," tweeted Daichi Fujii as he posted the video.

“At the time of observation, there was no artificial satellite passing over the lunar surface, and from the way it shines, it is highly likely that it is a lunar impact flash,” Fujii wrote.

Fuji said that the space rock seems to have fallen near the Ideler L crater which is slightly northwest of the moon's Pitiscus crater.

Since he captured such a bright light on his telephoto camera, he claimed that the 'generated crater is large' and the 'striations are clearly visible'.

He stated that the fireballs and meteors are not visible, however, since there is no atmosphere on the moon, hence 'it glows' the moment a crater is formed.

“At that time, the altitude of the moon was only seven degrees, and I was glad that I was able to hold on until the last minute,” he added.

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More than 100 meteoroids, as small as ping pong balls, hits the surface of the moon every day, as per Bill Cooke, head of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama.

“That adds up to roughly 33,000 meteoroids per year. Despite their small size, each of these ping pong-ball-size rocks impacts the surface with the force of 7 pounds (3.2 kilograms) of dynamite,” Cooke said.

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