How often do large meteorites hit the Moon?

Meteorites slam into the Moon all the time - but we didn't mention how big they are...


Asked by: Jenny Smith, Peterborough

The Moon is constantly being bombarded with meteorites, but most of them are no bigger than specks of dust. Larger impacts have been observed regularly over the years. In February 2014, Spanish astronomers recorded the impact of a meteorite weighing about 400kg. It was travelling at about 64,374km/h (40,000mph) and probably resulted in a crater 40m wide. Just six months earlier a NASA telescope spotted the impact of a 40kg object. However, the actual yearly rate of these impacts is unclear because astronomers have not yet observed enough of them.

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