# Have anynew craters formed on the moon after telescopes were invented **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 3, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043 "2016-04-03T09:21:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nansbread1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Nansbread1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nansbread1)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/1 "2016-04-03T09:21:49Z")
The moon is full of craters. Some of them are quite large. Any new craters formed after telescopes were invented and craters mapped? ---
**Author:** ![from\_a\_to\_z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5fc32e/32.png) [@from\_a\_to\_z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/from_a_to_z)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/2 "2016-04-03T10:04:45Z")
> [@Nansbread1](#): > > The moon is full of craters. Some of them are quite large. Any new craters formed after telescopes were invented and craters mapped? Yes. See for example [http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/new-impact-crater-on-the-moon/](http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/new-impact-crater-on-the-moon/), which begins > [@](#): > > New impact crater on the Moon! Since this crater is not visible in images from the Apollo 15 mission, it formed sometime in the last 38 years. The new crater is only ~10 meters (30 feet) across, but its bright ejecta extends much farther, making it stand out from all the nearby craters. LROC NAC image M108971316L; view is 400 m across [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/3 "2016-04-03T15:14:55Z")
There’d be a greater chance of a new crater forming on the far side, but it’s only been observed since 1959. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/4 "2016-04-03T15:30:01Z")
> [@panache45](#): > > There’d be a greater chance of a new crater forming on the far side … How’s that? ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/5 "2016-04-03T15:42:26Z")
There’s not a big planet in the way to act like an umbrella. ---
**Author:** ![pudytat72](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@pudytat72](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pudytat72)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/6 "2016-04-03T15:48:40Z")
One side of the moon is always facing the earth (tidal locking), so some of the potential impact objects will be stopped/deflected by the earth before they can hit the moon. On the far side of the moon, there would be no stopping/delfection of any impact objects. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/7 "2016-04-03T16:02:04Z")
True but immaterial. We’ve done this before. The obstructive effect of Earth as between the near & far sides of the Moon is a tiny, tiny fraction of 1%. Roughly 1 part in 6000. Or 0.017% IOW, the protective effect of the Earth on the near side of the moon is negligible. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/8 "2016-04-03T17:33:42Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > … the protective effect of the Earth on the near side of the moon is negligible. Might there be some “focusing” effect? An object that might otherwise miss the moon by a small distance could be slightly deflected by earth’s gravity - enough to collide? ---
**Author:** ![bizerta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@bizerta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bizerta)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2016, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/9 "2016-04-03T18:36:00Z")
For every object that would have hit the moon but is deflected away by earth’s gravity, there would be an equivalent number of objects that would have missed the moon, but the earth’s gravity deflected the object into the moon. The exception are those objects that hit the earth, but the earth occupies such a small percentage of the moon’s sky. (less then 1/10 %) ---
**Author:** ![Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ba8739/32.png) [@Backwater\_Under\_Duck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Backwater_Under_Duck)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/10 "2016-04-04T01:02:48Z")
Come on, no Far Side jokes? The question seems to have been answered. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/11 "2016-04-04T01:15:22Z")
It’s too dark on the far side to read. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/12 "2016-04-04T13:44:09Z")
Actually, it’s the near side that’s dark. The far side is considerably brighter. At least, right this moment. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2016, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/13 "2016-04-04T21:40:51Z")
Not just on the Moon, but [Mars](http://www.space.com/25980-huge-mars-crater-photos.html), too. Stuff happens. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2016, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/14 "2016-04-05T04:20:07Z")
The far side of the Moon probably gets a bit more direct sunlight than the near side. Lunar eclipses have no effect on the far side. Of course, the near side gets sunlight reflected off the Earth, but I don’t know how bright that is. ---
**Author:** ![whc.03grady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a6a055/32.png) [@whc.03grady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whc.03grady)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2016, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/15 "2016-04-06T04:37:37Z")
Pretelescopic, but interesting nonetheless: > **[Giordano Bruno (crater)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giordano_Bruno_%28crater%29)** > > Giordano Bruno is a 22-kilometre (14 mi) lunar impact crater on the far side of the Moon, just beyond the northeastern limb. It lies in an area that can be viewed during a favorable libration, although the area is viewed from the side and not much detail can be seen. It lies between the craters Harkhebi to the northwest and Szilard to the southeast. > When viewed from orbit, Giordano Bruno is at the center of a symmetrical ray system of ejecta that has a higher albedo than the surrounding surfac... ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/16 "2016-04-07T05:27:32Z")
> [@from\_a\_to\_z](#): > > Yes. See for example [http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/new-impact-crater-on-the-moon/](http://sservi.nasa.gov/articles/new-impact-crater-on-the-moon/), which begins Many more … In 2009, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) arrived at the Moon and began taking high-resolution photographs. By comparing pictures taken early in the mission with more recent images, the LRO camera team at Arizona State University has discovered more than two-dozen new impact craters — including an 18-meter-wide crater caused by a bright flash on March 17th, 2013. ---
**Author:** ![TonySinclair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/49beb7/32.png) [@TonySinclair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TonySinclair)\ **Post date:** [April 7, 2016, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-anynew-craters-formed-on-the-moon-after-telescopes-were-invented/751043/17 "2016-04-07T08:11:55Z")
> [@Isilder](#): > > By comparing pictures taken early in the mission with more recent images, the LRO camera team at Arizona State University has discovered more than two-dozen new impact craters — including an 18-meter-wide crater caused by a bright flash on March 17th, 2013. Wow, that must have been a REALLY bright flash.