News in Brief Planetary Science

A basketball-sized rock hit the moon during the last lunar eclipse

Professional and amateur astronomers used images and video to analyze the impact

object striking moon during lunar eclipse

LUCKY STRIKE  Amateur astronomers caught lucky views of an object roughly the size of a basketball smacking into the moon and producing a bright flash of light (inset) during a lunar eclipse on January 21.

Fritz Pichardo/Dominican Astronomical Society

By Lisa Grossman

- More than 2 years ago

Thousands of people were watching the total lunar eclipse on January 21 when something suddenly smacked into the moon, creating a flash of light.