Astronomer records likely Geminid meteor crash on moon with bright flash. See video

As Earth witnesses the peak of the Geminid meteor shower, with up to 120 meteors streaking through the sky per hour, a fascinating event has taken place on our celestial neighbor, the Moon.

Daichi Fujii, curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum in Japan, has meticulously recorded meteor impacts on the moon using high-speed cameras.

SEE THE METEOR FALL ON THE MOON

His efforts bore fruit and led to a remarkable observation on December 8th. At exactly 10:34 p.m., Fujii documented a bright flash caused by a meteorite impact on the lunar surface. The images were taken at 360 frames per second by his home observatory and confirmed the event with the help of multiple telescopes.

“There was another lunar impact flash this evening,” Fujii said in a post on X (formerly Twitter), pointing to an increase in bright meteors during the period.

While some experts speculate that these impacts are related to the Geminid meteor shower, Robert Lunsford of the American Meteor Society points out that sporadic meteors could also be responsible.

Previous studies by NASA have found that a significant portion of lunar impacts during the Geminid peaks are due to this meteor shower.

The lack of an atmosphere on the Moon is the key to these brilliant flashes. When meteoroids collide with their surface at enormous speeds, the energy is released in the form of heat, forming craters and producing visible light – a stark contrast to Earth, where most meteoroids burn up before impact due to atmospheric friction.

Fujii’s images not only deepen our understanding of lunar activity, but also remind us of the Moon’s vulnerability to cosmic collisions. As stargazers marvel at the Geminid meteors in the sky, Fujii’s findings provide a rare glimpse into the celestial drama unfolding just beyond our atmosphere.