On 11 September 2013, at 20h07m28.68 ± 0.01 s UT, two telescopes operating in the framework of the Moon Impacts Detection and Analysis System (MIDAS) recorded an unusually bright and long lunar impact flash in the region of Mare Nubium (Fig. 1). These flashes are generated when meteoroids that orbit around the Sun are intercepted by the Moon and impact the lunar surface. Since the Moon has no atmosphere, these meteoroids hit the lunar ground at very high velocities, and a brief flash of light is emitted at the instant of the collision. These flashes, in general, last about 0.1 s or even less. However, with a total duration of 8.3 s and a peak apparent visual magnitude of 2.9 ± 0.2, the 11 September 2013 event is the brightest and longest impact flash recorded up to date on the lunar surface (Madiedo et al. 2014).
Sum-pixel image of the lunar impact flash recorded on 11 September 2013
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Madiedo, J.M., Ortiz, J.L. (2018). Lunar Impact Event: The 11 September 2013. In: Cudnik, B. (eds) Encyclopedia of Lunar Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_127-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-05546-6_127-1
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