NASA Discovers McGetchin, the Largest Newly Formed Moon Crater Ever Recorded

NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has identified a massive new impact crater on the Moon that formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024. Named McGetchin Crater, the feature is about 222 metres wide and 43 metres deep, making it the largest newly formed crater discovered during modern spacecraft observations and the largest newly formed crater ever identified in the Solar System, according to NASA. The impact also disturbed lunar soil far beyond the crater itself and created a nighttime thermal anomaly roughly 4 miles wide.

A Giant Crater Was Hiding in Plain Sight

The Moon may look geologically quiet from Earth, but its surface is constantly being bombarded by objects moving through space.

One of the clearest demonstrations of that ongoing process has now been identified by NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO).

Scientists have discovered a huge impact crater on the Moon’s eastern limb that was not present in earlier orbital images. The feature, officially named McGetchin Crater, measures approximately 222 metres across and about 43 metres deep. That is roughly the length of two American football fields.

The crater formed sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, when an asteroid or comet fragment estimated to have been roughly the size of a three- to six-storey building slammed into the lunar surface.

The impact itself was not witnessed directly. Instead, scientists reconstructed the event by comparing years of LRO observations of the same region.

That made the discovery particularly valuable: researchers effectively have before-and-after observations of a major lunar impact, allowing them to study what happens to the Moon’s surface immediately after a collision.

The Discovery Began With a Routine Image Check

The crater was identified on October 24, 2025, during what initially appeared to be a routine examination of LRO imagery.

Robert Wagner, an image-processing specialist working with data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, was examining global lunar maps when he noticed an unusually bright feature surrounded by a dark halo.

Such patterns can indicate that an impact has disturbed the surface and thrown fresh material across the surrounding terrain.

Wagner compared images taken at different times and realized that the unusual feature did not exist in older observations.

The discovery was then investigated using LRO’s higher-resolution Narrow-Angle Camera, which provided detailed views of the newly formed crater.

The LRO camera team subsequently determined that the crater was substantially larger than most newly formed lunar craters documented during the mission.

McGetchin Crater Is a Rare Lunar Event

The size of the crater is what makes the discovery particularly unusual.

Scientists estimate that impacts capable of producing a crater of approximately this size occur on the Moon only about once every 130 years, although the actual interval varies because impacts are random events.

The Moon has no substantial atmosphere to burn up or slow down incoming space rocks. Objects that might fragment or lose energy while entering Earth’s atmosphere can therefore strike the lunar surface directly.

Most impacts are extremely small and leave craters that are difficult or impossible to identify from orbit.

McGetchin was different.

The collision excavated a substantial amount of lunar material and produced a prominent ejecta blanket extending outward from the crater. Fresh rock and dust thrown out by the impact created a distinctive bright pattern against the older lunar terrain.

Why the Crater Is Called McGetchin

The crater was named McGetchin in honour of Thomas McGetchin, a pioneering lunar scientist and volcanologist who made important contributions to the understanding of the Moon.

McGetchin served as director of the Lunar Science Institute, now known as the Lunar and Planetary Institute, beginning in 1977.

His research included work on the distribution of material ejected from impact craters. The ejecta around this newly discovered crater therefore provides an especially appropriate connection to his scientific legacy.

The International Astronomical Union officially approved the name.

The Impact Changed Much More Than the Crater

One of the most surprising findings is that the collision affected the lunar surface far beyond the visible crater.

The impact violently disturbed the Moon’s upper layer of loose soil and rock, known as regolith.

The researchers found evidence of surface modification extending more than 1,000 crater radii from McGetchin, demonstrating that a major impact can influence a much wider area than the crater itself.

The ejecta and shock from the collision altered the physical properties of the surrounding regolith.

That matters because lunar soil is not simply a passive layer sitting on top of bedrock. Its density, thermal properties and mechanical behaviour influence how spacecraft, landers and rovers interact with the surface.

A large impact can therefore create changes that remain scientifically important long after the collision itself.

A Four-Mile-Wide Cold Spot Appeared Around the Crater

The LRO discovery became even more interesting when scientists examined the site using the spacecraft’s Diviner thermal instrument.

Researchers identified a thermal anomaly extending roughly 4 miles, or about 6 kilometres, across the region surrounding the crater.

At night, the affected area was approximately 16 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 9 degrees Celsius, cooler than comparable surrounding terrain.

The explanation is linked to the impact’s effect on the regolith.

The collision loosened and “fluffed up” the lunar soil, reducing its density. Less-dense material does not retain heat in exactly the same way as more compacted regolith, producing a measurable difference in nighttime temperature.

This gives scientists another way to measure the physical consequences of a lunar impact.

Instead of studying only the hole left by the collision, researchers can examine the thermal and physical footprint surrounding it.

The Moon Is Still Being Reshaped by Impacts

LRO has been orbiting the Moon since 2009 and has accumulated more than 17 years of observations.

During that period, scientists have identified at least 1,000 new impact craters and detected roughly 100,000 other surface changes associated with impacts and their ejecta.

Most of those events are far smaller than McGetchin.

NASA estimates that impacts capable of producing craters around 30 feet across occur roughly 140 times per year across the Moon. Much smaller impacts happen far more frequently but are generally below the resolution needed for routine orbital identification.

McGetchin therefore represents an unusually large event captured within the extensive observational record of LRO.

Why This Matters for Future Moon Missions

The discovery is not only about lunar geology.

As governments and commercial companies plan increasingly sophisticated lunar missions, understanding the Moon’s changing surface could become important for landing sites, rover operations and future infrastructure.

A surface that appears stable can be modified by an impact, sometimes across an area far larger than the crater itself.

Changes in regolith density can influence how wheels move across the surface. Fresh ejecta can create different terrain properties. Thermal changes can also provide information about how deeply the surface has been disturbed.

NASA says the discovery highlights the value of long-term lunar observations as the agency and other organizations prepare for expanded scientific and commercial activity on the Moon.

The fact that scientists possessed images from before the impact is particularly valuable. It provides a rare natural experiment in which researchers can compare an unchanged lunar landscape with the same landscape after a major collision.

McGetchin Offers a Rare Look at Fresh Lunar Geology

The Moon’s surface is billions of years old, and most large craters have been exposed to the harsh space environment for enormous periods.

Solar radiation, micrometeorite impacts and other processes gradually alter exposed material.

McGetchin is different because it is extremely young by lunar geological standards.

Scientists can examine the crater before its ejecta and surrounding terrain have been substantially altered by subsequent impacts and space weathering. The crater’s location near the boundary between rugged lunar highlands and a broad, relatively flat mare also gives researchers an opportunity to study how an impact interacts with different geological materials.

The result is an unusually detailed natural laboratory.

A New Window Into How the Moon Changes

The discovery of McGetchin Crater is a reminder that the Moon is not the static, ancient world it can appear to be from Earth.

Every incoming asteroid or comet fragment can reshape its surface, while the absence of a substantial atmosphere allows impacts to occur directly on the exposed terrain.

What makes McGetchin extraordinary is not simply its size. It is the combination of known timing, extensive before-and-after imagery, high-resolution observations and measurable changes extending far beyond the crater itself.

For planetary scientists, that combination offers a rare opportunity to watch lunar geology in action.

And for future lunar exploration, the discovery provides another reminder that the Moon’s surface is an evolving environment — one that future spacecraft, rovers and eventually human infrastructure will have to understand in considerably greater detail.