Moving eye in the Sahara left by 'space killer'

An attacker from space crashed into the Sahara 345 million years ago, completely destroying an area the size of a city.

An analysis from the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI - USA) shows that the mysterious eye-shaped structure that satellites have captured in the middle of the Sahara desert is the vestige of an ancient "space killer".

It is a very spooky structure with a clear eyeball in the middle of the desert in Northern Chad, inside the "white" are sand dunes that are constantly shifting, making this eye look like it is moving.

The mysterious eye in the middle of the Sahara is a trace left by an attacker from space - (Photo: NASA).

Since it was clearly photographed from space in 2013, scientists have been trying to figure out what it is, as well as track how it has changed over time.

The latest results have confirmed it is an ancient impact crater up to 12.6 km wide, with many "migrating dunes" inside, which can move up to 30m each year.

Ancient impact crater in panoramic photo - (Photo: NASA).

The crater is made up of two rings, giving it the appearance of a large, glaring eye: The inner ring has a central hill or unidentified raised structure that resembles a pupil; the outer ring resembles an eyelid.

The rings are now up to 100m above the surrounding ground, but that is because they have been eroded over time. Their original height may have been considerably greater.

Experts believe the structure formed about 345 million years ago and was likely created by a meteorite about 600 meters in diameter.

At that size, it would have to be what modern astronomers call a "city killer asteroid ," powerful enough to completely obliterate a city if it were to hit Earth today.

Image depicting some shifting sand dunes inside the "white of the eye" - (Photo: NASA).

At 345 million years ago, humans were still far from being around. However, the ecosystem that was already quite rich at that time was certainly severely damaged by this "out of the blue" disaster .

This massive space rock is large enough to cause widespread damage across northern Africa and could even cause climate effects on a global scale.

It 's not unusual for sand dunes to move in the desert, but it's the complex structure created by the collision that affects the way the dunes move and adds to the overall spooky look.

The discovery of similar terrible "scars" across the Earth's surface has motivated space scientists to design and upgrade planetary defense missions, because such attacks could repeat themselves at any time.