NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, known as LRO, has found a new crater on the Moon that scientists describe as the largest newly formed impact crater known in the solar system. The crater, now named McGetchin Crater after lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, sits near the Moon's eastern edge and is about 222 meters wide and 43 meters deep.
The find came from an unexpected source. Robert Wagner of Intuitive Machines spotted the crater on October 24, 2025, while reviewing wide-angle camera data during a routine check of data quality. Detecting fresh craters is a demanding task: Wagner's software regularly flags false alarms caused by shifting light and shadow. Genuine new craters, however, show a fuzzy bright halo in difference images taken at different times, which is what drew his attention. Sharper images from the LROC Narrow-Angle Camera then confirmed the crater's size and shape.
Based on changes in the surface between images, the impact occurred sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024. The impactor was most likely a comet or an asteroid, roughly three to six stories tall. Scientists estimate that craters of this scale form about once a century, which makes the discovery notable for researchers tracking impact activity on the lunar surface.
The crater also produced an unusual thermal signature. The Diviner instrument aboard LRO recorded a roughly 6.5-kilometer area around the crater that stays cooler during the lunar night, about 9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit) below its surroundings. Researchers believe the impact fluffed up the surface material, lowering its density and allowing it to lose heat more quickly.
Several questions remain open. The exact identity of the impactor, whether comet or asteroid, has not been confirmed. Scientists are also still studying how long the thermal effect will last and what it could mean for future lunar missions.
We rewrote this story on 4 November 2026 after an editorial review.
Credit. Based on reporting by Haygen Warren for NASASpaceflight. Is this your work? Write to us.
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