An intriguing phenomenon took place on December 8: an unidentified object struck the surface of the Moon. Daichi Fujii, astronomer and curator of the Hiratsuka City Museum in Japan, had the opportunity to immortalize this moment.
However, it appears that several impacts occurred around this date, according to information reported by Futura Sciences. These impacts could be linked to the Geminid swarm, a pile of debris left in Earth’s orbit by an asteroid that behaves like a comet. Every December, this swarm offers us one of the most beautiful showers of shooting stars of the year. But this year, it appears some of that residue hit the Moon.
Did the Geminids have a rendezvous with the Moon? In general, shooting star showers pose no danger, because comet residue is too small to reach Earth and burns up in the atmosphere. However, this time, some debris appears to have reached lunar space, causing visible impacts.
Although the American Meteor Society suggests that the flashes observed by Daichi Fujii could have come from objects unrelated to the Geminid swarm, this event remains a mystery to the scientific community.
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