Daichi Fujii can’t get sufficient of the flashy skies. The astronomer and curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum not too long ago captured movies of vibrant flashes on the Moon, which coincide with the Geminid meteor showers. Ergo: Some of those fireballs could also be hitting our rocky satellite tv for pc.
The Moon’s pockmarked face is not any stranger to impacts from rocky particles in our cosmos. In truth, it’s been smacked by Geminids earlier than—based on a 2015 NASA examine, the Moon was hit by 19 Geminids in 2006 and impacted by 21 in 2010. Nevertheless, the current footage could present such impacts as they occurred.
Fujii captured the footage at 7:41 p.m. and 10:34 p.m. native time on December 8, based on translated posts on X, previously Twitter. Fujii “was capable of verify it [the lunar impact flash] with a number of telescopes,” based on to the submit. “Bright meteors and fireballs have been showing day-after-day, however lunar impression flashes have additionally been captured one after one other.”
The Geminids are an annual mid-December meteor bathe. On a transparent night time, the meteors can seem like good cosmic fireworks. According to NASA, the bathe is “among the finest alternatives for younger viewers since this bathe begins round 9 or 10 p.m.,” and the bathe is finest considered after giving your eyes about half-hour to adapt to a darkish atmosphere.
The Geminids originate from an asteroid known as 3200 Phaethon, which the Infrared Astronomical Satellite found in October 1983. Last 12 months, a joint NASA-ESA mission took new observations of Phaethon and located that the comet-like asteroid’s tail is made up of sodium, fairly than mud, probably shaking up the origin story of the Geminids.
今夜はもう1つ月面衝突閃光がありました。2024年12月8日22時34分35秒に自宅から360fpsで撮影し(スロー再生)、複数台の望遠鏡で確認できました。連日明るい流星や火球が流れていますが、月面衝突閃光も続けて捉えられています。 pic.twitter.com/iHUq9EuXQg
— 藤井大地 (@dfuji1) December 8, 2024
Last 12 months, Fujii caught NASA’s Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite 2, or ICESat-2, pulsing lasers into the night time sky because it flew overhead. A NASA instrument scientist and member of the ICESat-2 crew later confirmed it was the primary time the crew had seen footage of the instrument’s lasers at work. Fujii additionally captured footage of a meteor impacting the Moon final 12 months, inflicting a flash on the satellite tv for pc’s floor just like these captured this month.
It’s not completely clear that the not too long ago captured footage reveals Geminids hitting the Moon—although clearly one thing is. An skilled from the American Meteor Society advised EarthSky that it’s doable the impression was attributable to a Geminid, because the thriller object struck the Moon within the anticipated path for such a meteor.
If mendacity down and staring on the night time sky on a chilly December night time isn’t your factor, fear not. The Perseids—one other vibrant meteor bathe in our night time skies—happens in July and early August, and could also be extra your pace. You’ll simply have to attend a short time.
