Japanese astronomer Daichi Fujii, curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum, has captured two meteors slamming into the moon, visible from Earth for just a split second. The flashes, caused by space rocks striking the lunar surface at high speed, produced brief but brilliant explosions of light. The first collision occurred at 8:30 p.m. Japan Standard Time on October 30, while the second happened at 8:49 p.m. on November 1. The impacts were recorded using cameras aimed at the moon's nightside, with the first flash appearing east of the Gassendi Crater and the second west of Oceanus Procellarum. According to Fujii, the impactor was likely part of the Taurid meteor stream, striking the moon at a velocity of 27 km/s and an angle of 35 degrees. The meteoroid's estimated mass was 0.4 pounds, excavating a crater about 10 feet wide and producing a flash lasting just 0.1 seconds. Unlike Earth, which is shielded by a thick atmosphere, the moon's virtually non-existent atmosphere means there is nothing to slow down incoming meteors, sending them crashing into its surface at speeds of 45,000 to 160,000 mph, releasing powerful bursts of light and heat on impact. Such impacts can excavate craters tens of feet across, even from meteoroids weighing just a few pounds. Fujii has documented a total of 60 flashes so far and continues to observe lunar impact flashes, typically detecting one impact flash every few dozen hours of observation.
