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A meteorite crashed on the surface of the moon as the whole world watched it this week, making it the first known sighting of a meteorite impact during a lunar eclipse.
Billions of people have turned their heads to the sky or turned to live broadcast sites to watch the rare moon of blood super wolf Sunday.
The moon of blood, in which the moon takes on an intense red hue, occurred during a total lunar eclipse, where the moon is totally immersed in the shadow of the Earth.
It was visible only in regions of the northern hemisphere of North and South America, Europe, West Africa and the West. from the far north of Russia.
But as astronomers watched this incredible site, some noticed that a flash of light hit the upper left quadrant of the moon's surface.
This occurred during the partial digging of the moon, so that the collision was visible with the help of a telescope.
Astrophysicist Jose Maria Madiedo told the New Scientist that the spot of yellow-white light was visible on the live stream around 14:41 EST (5:41, Spanish time).
"I had the feeling that this will be the time when this will happen," said Dr. Madiedo.
His research team estimated that the meteorite weighed about 10 kg.
Dr. Madiedo, who works at the University of Huelva in Spain, told the Gizmodo technology site that he had spent years trying to capture a meteorite striking the moon's surface.
In fact, scientists are monitoring the moment when a meteorite hits the moon since 1997.
"We are monitoring the moon's night area to identify the lightning bolts of impact. In this way, these flashes are well contrasted compared to the darker background, "Dr. Madiedo told Gizmodo.
"So we watch the moon about five days after the new moon and about five days before the new moon.
"We also monitor lunar eclipses, because during these eclipses, the lunar floor is dark."
NASA researchers identified a trio of rogue asteroids that flew extremely close to the Earth.
One of the asteroids was the size of a blue whale, while the other was the length of the leaning tower of Pisa.
Scientists have also made a disturbing prediction this month about the trajectory of the asteroid Apophis, named after the Egyptian god of chaos and darkness.
The 370-meter-wide space rock is expected to come extremely close to the Earth several times over the next few years, with the most dangerous planned for 2068.
Nicknamed the "Rock of the End of the World Space", Apophis was discovered in 2004, but researchers now believe that it is on a collision course with Earth.
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