What Caused the Bright Flash on the Moon on March 17, 2013?

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On March 17, 2013, a meteorite struck the Moon at approximately 56,000 mph, creating a new crater 65 feet wide and producing a flash of light visible to the naked eye. NASA's Bill Cooke noted that the explosion was nearly ten times brighter than previous recorded impacts. The agency has been monitoring lunar meteor impacts for eight years, revealing a significant number of collisions over time. The discussion also touched on the visibility of craters, particularly at the poles, attributing this to better shadows and the geological history of the lunar surface. Overall, the event underscores the Moon's ongoing exposure to meteor impacts and its complex geological history.
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A meteorite crashed into the moon on March 17,
slamming into the lunar surface at [an estimated] 56,000 mph (90,000 kph) and creating a new crater 65 feet wide (20 meters). The crash sparked a bright flash of light that would have been visible to anyone looking at the moon at the time with the naked eye, NASA scientists say.

". . . , an object about the size of a small boulder hit the lunar surface in Mare Imbrium," Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office said in a statement. "It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before."
http://news.yahoo.com/huge-rock-crashes-moon-sparks-giant-explosion-152049489.html

Apparently, NASA astronomers have been monitoring the moon for lunar meteor impacts for the past eight years.
 
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What is mind boggling are how many impacts they've recorded, (pic below is 2005 - 2008 only)between perseides and all of the other junk out there:

http://science.nasa.gov/media/medialibrary/2008/09/02/02sep_lunarperseids_resources/impactmap_big.jpg
I still have to dissappoint the Mayan Calender doomsday folks though by telling them as far as the view from Earth is concerned, it's business as usual. We've been hanging out in the denser part of the spiral arm for millions of years. :biggrin:
 
Why does it look like there are more craters at the poles? Or is it just because of better shadows from the grazing sunlight?
 
berkeman said:
Why does it look like there are more craters at the poles? Or is it just because of better shadows from the grazing sunlight?
It's partly because of better shadows, but also partly because there are fewer craters in the lunar maria. The lunar highlands are about the same age as the Moon itself. The lunar maria are a billion or so years younger. There were far more meteor collisions during the Moon's first billion years compared to the 3.5 billion years that followed. Whatever caused the maria to form erased the evidence of that first billion years of continued bombardment.
 
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Very interesting. Thanks DH!
 

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