Giant meteorite bombarded the moon

Spanish astronomers witnessed a meteorite with a mass of about half a ton crashing into the moon, creating a terrible shock on Ms. Hang's surface.

By the time the meteorite descended, a halo appeared on the surface of the moon, and this event could be observed from Earth.

The halo appears when asteroid hits the moon - (Photo: Huelva University)

'This is the biggest and brightest collision we've ever seen on the moon,' according to the BBC, quoted Professor Jose Madiedo of Huelva University in southwestern Spain.

The explosion has caught the eye of the Moon Crash Detection and Detection System, short for Midas , a combination of telescopes in the south of the country.

'Usually the crashes on the moon take place quickly, less than a second. But the event lasted more than 8 seconds, ' said Professor Madiedo.

Experts say the culprit is a meteorite weighing about 400kg, moving at a speed of 61,000km / h when hitting the lunar surface, activating an explosion equivalent to 15 tons of TNT.

As a result, the 40m-wide impact crater appeared on Ms. Hang.

The collision occurred on September 11, 2003, but was published in the latest Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society.