Visible expolsion on the Moon

If you were looking up at the Moon on March 17, 2013 at 03:50:55 UTC, you might have seen one of the brightest "lunar flashes" ever witnessed. And it would have been visible with just the naked eye.

"On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before."
The scientists estimate that the flash came from a 40 kg meteoroid measuring 0.3 to 0.4 meters wide hitting the Moon, likely traveling about 90,000 km/hr (56,000 mph.) The resulting explosion packed as much punch as 5 tons of TNT.

More info and pictures at:
http://www.universetoday.com/102214/...n-on-the-moon/

Sorry, that was me. I flicked my cigarette out too hard.

Thanks for the thread Panntastic

So, they hit the moon all the time? Why do more not hit us?

Is it a gravitational pull of the moon? Because it looks like the moon is a shooting gallery. I know that we have our craters, but? That object wasnt even very big, and it caused a hell of an explosion.

Awesome thread dude

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Originally Posted by JJ78

So, they hit the moon all the time? Why do more not hit us?

Is it a gravitational pull of the moon? Because it looks like the moon is a shooting gallery. I know that we have our craters, but? That object wasnt even very big, and it caused a hell of an explosion.

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the moon orbits the earth on the same orbital plane as the earth orbiting the sun. therefore, it clears it's orbital path of most debris.

in fact, Jupiter does a similar thing, and clears it's orbital path and spares most of the rocky inner planets from impacting debris

But the moon is so much smaller than Earth. Seems like a lot more would get through, unless there is some kind of pull.

It was traveling 90,000 Kms per hour. Thats fast.

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Originally Posted by JJ78

But the moon is so much smaller than Earth. Seems like a lot more would get through, unless there is some kind of pull.

It was traveling 90,000 Kms per hour. Thats fast.

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unless the rock is traveling other than in an orbital path, the moon will usually get most of the debris. Only when a rock is not on an orbital path is there trouble.

almost ALL the debris out there IS in an orbital path around the sun, as the earth/moon/Jupiter has been clearing out those that are not in an orbital path for billions of years.

besides, 90kph is fast, about 3x faster than what is necessary for the escape velocity of a rocket leaving earth's gravitational tug.

Do people really not know these things? I don't get out much and don't do small talk but I assumed this is all common knowledge?

Pann - great vid I hadn't heard about this thanks :)

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Originally Posted by panntastic

If you were looking up at the Moon on March 17, 2013 at 03:50:55 UTC, you might have seen one of the brightest "lunar flashes" ever witnessed. And it would have been visible with just the naked eye.

"On March 17, 2013, an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium," says Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before."
The scientists estimate that the flash came from a 40 kg meteoroid measuring 0.3 to 0.4 meters wide hitting the Moon, likely traveling about 90,000 km/hr (56,000 mph.) The resulting explosion packed as much punch as 5 tons of TNT.

More info and pictures at:
Super-Bright Explosion Seen on the Moon

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That's a cool article.

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Originally Posted by Times Roman

unless the rock is traveling other than in an orbital path, the moon will usually get most of the debris. Only when a rock is not on an orbital path is there trouble.

almost ALL the debris out there IS in an orbital path around the sun, as the earth/moon/Jupiter has been clearing out those that are not in an orbital path for billions of years.

besides, 90kph is fast, about 3x faster than what is necessary for the escape velocity of a rocket leaving earth's gravitational tug.

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That is actually a big misconception. Although Jupiter protects Earth a lot more, the moon doesn't provide much protection. I believe the moon only reduces the amount of meteoroids from entering the Earth's atmosphere by about 10%. It is our own atmosphere that provides a lot of protection. The reason there are so many collisions on the moon is that it doesn't have an atmosphere to "burn" up the debris.

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Originally Posted by basketballfan22

That is actually a big misconception. Although Jupiter protects Earth a lot more, the moon doesn't provide much protection. I believe the moon only reduces the amount of meteoroids from entering the Earth's atmosphere by about 10%. It is our own atmosphere that provides a lot of protection. The reason there are so many collisions on the moon is that it doesn't have an atmosphere to "burn" up the debris.

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mate
not sure what the percentage is. but again, most of the debris that IS in an orbital path has already been cleared out already. those NOT on an orbital path are more likely to get through. MOST debris is in an orbital path

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Originally Posted by Times Roman

mate
not sure what the percentage is. but again, most of the debris that IS in an orbital path has already been cleared out already. those NOT on an orbital path are more likely to get through. MOST debris is in an orbital path

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Ah, I think I don't exactly understand what you are talking about then lol. May I ask for a source of your information, so I can better understand exactly what you are talking about? I think we are on different wavelengths, and I know what I am thinking about is correct.

Also, "debris" is usually only used to describe man-made material. I was only talking about asteroids and meteoroids because that is what I thought JJ78 was talking about.

Okay so this is bothering me, lol. Here is a link I think will be useful to clear up any confusion (How do asteroids orbit?). From the image we can see that there is a shit ton of asteroids (the asteroid belt) between Jupiter and Mars since there are no planets between those two. We can also see that within Earth's orbit there is a very little amount of asteroids (and actual debris). Now you mentioned that because the moon is in "the same orbital plane" it "clears its orbital path of most debris." Because Earth is much larger and has a larger gravitational pull, Earth will actually collide with more "debris"; therefore the moon doesn't clear out "most" of the debris.

I'm using debris to mean any material left over after the formation of the solar system, not bound up in the formation of planets, etc.

I'm not going to cite a source of my information, nor provide a link. I've been an avid buff on this subject most my life, and have read countless books, articles, even science shows.

An orbital path is the plane in which planets orbit the sun. if you notice, all planets, more or less, are on the same orbital path as one another. the "debris" or objects that are NOT on this orbital plane are MORE likely to get past Jupiter and or the moon.

the reason there is an asteroid belt between Jupiter and mars is that Jupiter's gravitational tug was too great to properly allow the formation of a planet, so all that debris (rocks, etc.) were unable to coalesce into a single planetary object.

Actually, the moon does, in the long term (don't think of a single meteor, instead think of what has happened over billions of years) clear out debris from earth's orbital plane. the biggest reason is because the moon orbits the earth instead of the sun. However, the moon can do nothing if an object is approaching the earth at a perpendicular to the orbital plane, as some comets do. Additionally, objects in the asteroid belt occasionally do bump into one another, with a large rock shooting out of a stable orbit, towards the earth, in a trajectory that is unstable and no longer on ANY orbital path.

That is how I have obtained most of my information about space and physics too. That and my brother is a physicist (I am a mathematician), and we enjoy discussing such things. I wasn't implying that you didn't know what you were talking about; I just prefer original source information. Thanks for the clarification of what you meant though. I was referring to objects that are currently in and out of our orbital plane because that is what I though JJ78 was inquiring about.

Also I hope you are not offended by me when I ask questions or even "argue." I don't mean it in a rude manner, so I apologize if that is how I come off sometimes. Personally, I love to argue and have debates because I believe it is an effective way to acquire more knowledge.

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Originally Posted by basketballfan22

Also I hope you are not offended by me when I ask questions or even "argue." I don't mean it in a rude manner, so I apologize if that is how I come off sometimes. Personally, I love to argue and have debates because I believe it is an effective way to acquire more knowledge.

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Always up for a good debate, mate!

This topic is fairly elementary, and I usually enjoy more of a theoretical discussion involving macro/micro physics (aka astro/particle physics). Always up for a good metaphysical discussion as well......

I can tell. You are the one that started that "Singularity" thread, so it is obvious you are interested in physics and philosophical discussions.