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NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter team identified a fresh lunar impact crater named McGetchin, measuring 222 meters (728 feet) across and about 43 meters (141 feet) deep. That diameter is larger than Rome’s Colosseum, though the comparison is only a familiar way to picture its scale. The crater formed between April 11 and May 22, 2024, and was reported in September 2026.
How large is McGetchin crater?
McGetchin is 222 meters (728 feet) in diameter and about 43 meters (141 feet) deep, according to NASA’s September 16, 2026 account. The Lunar and Planetary Institute also reports the 222-meter diameter and places the crater at the boundary between the Moon’s cratered highlands and a broad, flat mare.
The Colosseum comparison conveys the crater’s width, not its depth or overall shape. Its measured dimensions are the more useful description: a little over two-tenths of a kilometer across, with a depth of roughly 43 meters.
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When did the impact happen, and what caused it?
NASA narrows the formation window to April 11 through May 22, 2024. The object that struck the Moon was likely a comet or asteroid estimated to be about the size of a three- to six-story building. Its exact composition, mass, and speed have not been established in the published account.
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The event was reported in September 2026, after researchers recognized the new feature in LRO imagery. The crater is named for Tom McGetchin, a lunar scientist.
How did NASA’s orbiter find the crater?
Robert Wagner, an image-processing specialist with Intuitive Machines working on LRO camera data, noticed an unusually bright patch surrounded by a dark halo while examining a global map assembled from Wide-Angle Camera images. As he put it, “I just stopped, dropped everything, and started looking into what that spot was.”
Researchers compared images acquired at different times to identify a change in the lunar surface, then examined the location with sharper Narrow-Angle Camera observations. Comparing repeat images is an established way to detect fresh lunar craters: a new impact can leave a distinct mark where earlier images show none. NASA outlines this approach in its guide to detecting new craters.
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The conspicuous white pattern in the wide view is ejecta—material thrown out by the impact—not the crater hole itself. The impact excavated the surface and scattered debris around it, as happens when an asteroid, meteoroid, or comet strikes the Moon. NASA’s overview of Moon craters explains how impacts excavate material and alter the surrounding ground.
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How rare is an impact this large?
NASA says impacts of this magnitude happen on the Moon about once in a century or even longer. The Lunar and Planetary Institute gives an estimate of roughly once every 130 years. These are statistical estimates, not a timetable: they do not mean the next comparable impact is due at a particular date.
NASA describes McGetchin as the largest newly formed crater found in recent times, not the largest crater on the Moon. The Moon’s ancient impact basins are vastly different features; the comparison here is with newly formed craters detected in modern observations.
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Why does the new crater matter to lunar science?
McGetchin offers researchers a relatively fresh impact site to study before continued exposure and micrometeorite bombardment alter its evidence. The scientific interest also extends well beyond the rim. LRO’s Diviner thermal instrument detected a cold region about four miles wide around the crater, with nighttime temperatures reported by NASA as about 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than nearby surroundings.
The proposed explanation is that the impact loosened, or “fluffed up,” nearby lunar regolith. A less dense, more disturbed surface may retain heat less effectively. The observation gives scientists a way to investigate how an impact changes ground over a wider area—an issue relevant to understanding the lunar terrain future rover wheels will cross.
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The Moon has no substantial atmosphere to erase impact marks through weather as on Earth, so even smaller impacts can leave evidence that persists. McGetchin’s timing, visible ejecta, and surrounding thermal signature make it possible to connect a recent impact with changes in the lunar surface.
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