A new crater approximately 222 meters in diameter and up to 43 meters deep has been discovered on the Moon. It was formed by the impact of a fragment of an asteroid or comet approximately two years ago. It has become the largest known modern impact crater in the Solar System, Associated Press reports, according to UNN.
Details
The crater was recorded by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft on the Moon’s near side in May 2024, shortly after the impact. However, the relevant images were found only in August 2025 among the enormous volume of data collected.
In the autumn, the spacecraft took more detailed photographs of the area, and in early 2026, scientists confirmed the discovery. The new crater is approximately three times larger than the previous record holder, discovered by LRO about 10 years ago.
Such impacts occur approximately once every 132 years
According to researchers’ estimates, an impact of this scale is extraordinarily rare. Scientists called it "a truly unique, once-in-a-lifetime observation."
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The impact altered the Moon’s surface across an area of more than 100 km around the impact site. Another study also found a cold region approximately 7 km wide near the crater, whose formation is associated with the mixing of the upper layer of lunar soil.
The crater was named after the late director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Thomas McGetchin. The research findings were published in the scientific journal Science Advances.
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