A new impact has left a scar on the Moon large enough to be spotted from orbit.
The crater is 222 m in diameter and about 43 m deep. Named McGetchin, it formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024. This period was determined using images taken before and after the impact by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which has been studying the Moon since 2009.
New impact site, before and after
The discovery did not take place until October 2025, however. Robert Wagner, an imaging specialist, was comparing hundreds of views of the surface to identify changes. The new impact appeared as a large bright area. More precise images then made it possible to measure the crater.
Its size clearly distinguishes it from the impacts usually detected. Researchers estimate that a comparable crater forms approximately once every 130 years on the Moon. It is the largest recent crater discovered since the beginning of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter mission.
The Moon regularly receives rocks from space. Unlike Earth, it has virtually no atmosphere to slow down or destroy small objects before they reach the ground. The probe has therefore made it possible to identify at least 1,000 new craters during its mission.
McGetchin primarily provides an opportunity to observe terrain that has just been disrupted by a major impact. Around the hole, the impact propelled rock and dust several hundred meters away. This ejected material forms a bright blanket around the crater, still little altered by its exposure to the space environment.
Oblique view of the McGetchin crater and the bright material ejected around it during the impact.
Credit: NASA/GSFC/Intuitive Machines.
The effects extend much farther. Another instrument on the probe measured the ground temperature during the lunar night. An area about 6.4 km wide around the crater was then nearly 8.9 °C colder than the neighboring terrain.
To understand this difference, we need to look at how the impact disturbed the lunar soil. The layer of dust and fragments, called regolith, was made less dense around the impact point. It therefore retains less heat during the night. The crater itself represents only part of the area that was actually transformed.
This observation is directly relevant to future surface missions. An impact can alter the properties of the terrain several kilometers from the crater, with possible consequences for wheel movement. Researchers now also have a recent site where they can measure how the lunar soil evolves after an impact of this magnitude.