NASA has discovered the largest newly identified crater in the Solar System on the Moon.
"Operative Information Center-OMM" reports that the findings were published in the scientific journal Science Advances.
The crater was detected in 2025 with the help of NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft.
The publication said it is the largest modern impact crater discovered in the Solar System. According to existing models, impacts of this scale occur once every 132 years.
NASA said an asteroid or comet measuring roughly the size of a three- to six-story building struck the Moon’s surface in spring 2024. The crater is 222 meters in diameter and approximately 42 meters deep.
The crater was named “McGetchin” in honor of scientist Thomas McGetchin.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been studying the Moon since 2009, mapping its surface and helping scientists investigate lunar geology, impact events and potential landing sites.
