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If at first you can not, try again and again. This is the philosophy of the astronomer José María Madiedo of the University of Huelva in Spain, who is trying to capture the impact of meteorites on the moon for more than 10 years during a lunar eclipse.
The long-awaited eclipse of the Monday of the Blood Super Moon, though badly baptized, did not disappoint. It is only at dawn on Monday, during the so-called "Super Moon of Blood". Millions of people have watched the night sky or watched video shows to see a dazzling red-copper hue engulfing the natural satellite of our planet. However, as the January 21 eclipse unfolded, some observers noticed a lightning bolt as they watched broadcasts online, reported the New Scientist . Some suspected that the flash had been caused by a meteorite impact – and it turns out that they were right.
Approximate image of the impact flash. José Madiedo confirmed these suspicions, tweeting according to which a lunar impact occurred at 2:41, Brasilia time. A photograph published by Madiedo clearly showed a yellowish white spot appearing in the darker upper left quadrant of the Moon during the phase of the entire eclipse. Astronomers had already fired lightning bolts on the Moon, but this is the first time that a lunar impact is captured during a lunar eclipse – a quest sought after more than 20 years ago. years.
Astronomers have systematically started to monitor the lightning bolts for the first time. in 1997, an effort that evolved to become the Moon Impact Detection and Analysis System (MIDAS), a research conducted by the University of Huelva and the Institute of astrophysics of Andalusia, both in Spain. Madiedo joined the project in 2008. Using astronomical data from several observatories, MIDAS uses software to identify a meteorite that strikes the darkened parts of the lunar surface.
"We monitor the Moon's night region to identify the lightning bolts of impact, so these flashes are well contrasted from the darkest background," Madiedo told Gizmodo. "So we generally watched the moon about five days after the new moon and about five days before, we also watch during lunar eclipses, because during these events, the lunar ground is dark."
The telescopes used by MIDAS are equipped with high-sensitivity cameras and record videos continuously during the observation session. These videos are then badyzed by software, which automatically identifies the lunar impact flashes and calculates their position on the moon. Madiedo said that the system can detect the momentum of an impact flash with a precision of about 0.001 seconds. Since 2015, the team has applied photometric filters on some of their telescopes, which allows them to determine the temperature of these lightning bolts.
As stated, the MIDAS had never captured the impact of a meteorite during a total lunar eclipse, and was not by lack of attempt. Madiedo said that he did not know the exact number of eclipses monitored by MIDAS so far, but said that, weather permitting, every lunar eclipse was monitored from the beginning of the day. investigation.
"When the automatic detection software m reported a bright flash, I jumped off the chair."
Normally, the Madiedo team uses four telescopes to monitor the moon, but this time they decided to use eight. It took a lot of work to install and test the new instruments.
"In total, I spent almost two days without sleep, including time monitoring during the eclipse," Madiedo told Gizmodo. "But I made an extra effort to prepare the new telescopes, because I felt that this time it would be" the turn "and I did not want to miss an impact.An instrument had a technical problem and I was exhausted when the eclipse came to an end, but when the automatic detection software announced a brilliant flash, I jumped off the chair.It was a very exciting period because I knew that such a thing had never been recorded before. "
Madiedo said the chances of a rapid impact of this magnitude are about once every seven or ten days. His team has not yet badyzed all the data, but a preliminary badumption is that the object, probably a small asteroid, had a mbad of about 10 pounds.
By studying these lightning bolts, scientists can obtain better statistics on the frequency of lunar impacts and, consequently, how often the atmosphere of the Earth is hit by objects of similar size.
On this subject, a recent study suggests that the impact rate of large asteroids on Earth has risen to about 290 million euros. This conclusion has been reached by studying the history of craters impact on the lunar surface. Our moon may not look at the Earth at all, but with regard to the heavenly impacts, we have a common history.
[New Scientist]
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