NASA scientists have identified the largest newly formed crater discovered in the solar system, a 728-foot-wide scar on the moon created by a space rock in 2024.
Named McGetchin after lunar scientist Tom McGetchin, the crater formed on the moon’s eastern edge between April 11 and May 22, 2024, when a comet or asteroid roughly the size of a three- to six-story building struck the surface, according to research published in Science Advances.
The impact carved a crater about 141 feet deep, spanning roughly two football fields. Scientists estimate an impact of this size occurs on the moon about once a century or less often.
The crater was discovered by Robert Wagner, an image-processing specialist with Intuitive Machines who works with NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC. During a routine data check in October 2025, Wagner noticed an unusually bright spot surrounded by a dark halo on a lunar map.
By comparing newer and older images, he determined the pattern was fresh impact debris. Scientists then used LROC’s sharper Narrow-Angle Camera to confirm the crater’s size, shape and effects on nearby terrain.
The impact also changed the moon’s surface well beyond the crater. Data from LRO’s Diviner instrument showed a roughly 4-mile-wide area around McGetchin that is about 16 degrees Fahrenheit cooler at night than surrounding terrain. Researchers said the impact loosened lunar soil, known as regolith, reducing its density and ability to retain heat.
NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has circled the moon for more than 17 years. The mission has identified at least 1,000 new impact craters and documented about 100,000 other surface changes caused by impacts and debris.
Because the moon has no atmosphere to slow or burn up incoming space rocks, impacts are common on the lunar surface.
McGetchin was unusually easy to spot. Wagner’s software compared hundreds of images and highlighted changes, but lighting and shadows create many false alarms. The new crater’s debris pattern covered hundreds of pixels and stood out immediately.
