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Wow >>> reddit.com/r/space/commen… I've just checked in PS & the flashes from the 2 different feeds are in *exactly* the same location. Given there was *also* a visual obs I'd bet good money this was indeed a meteoroid impact on the Moon during the #lunareclipse h/t @AwesomeAstroPod
So (assuming the time-stamp on the timeanddate.com feed was accurate) anyone who was videoing the eclipse at 04:41UT might want to check their footage for another data point! The flashes in the feeds occurred close to crater Byrgius (west of Mare Humorum). #lunareclipse
Update on the potential #lunareclipse meteoroid impact: here's *another* video (different observing site to the 2 other feeds) showing a flash @ the same spot west of Mare Humorum: Looks increasingly likely to me that this is a real event. cc @chrislintott
OK, *BIG* development in the #lunareclipse meteoroid impact story this morning: @chrfrde has a high-quality still image of the flash. Clearly confirms it occurred to the south of the 88-km wide crater Byrgius.
In addition to this, @jccwrt has analysed @chrfrde's image and refined the possible impact location which puts it just to the west of the crater Lagrange H. #lunareclipse
Adding this tweet into the thread for completeness: Another video of the #lunareclipse impact event from a very reliable source (the MIDAS survey, which specifically looks for impact flashes like this!)
I've now seen at least 5 videos from different locations that all show a flash occurring in the same position to the west of Mare Humorum. With @chrfrde's image & a MIDAS detection I think we can confidently say that something did hit the Moon just as totality started.
This is not especially surprising, as small meteoroids & space dust rain onto the bodies in the Solar System all the time. *BUT* it's pretty cool & this is certainly the 1st time I know of an impact being widely seen during a total lunar eclipse - w/ visual reports, pics & video.
Here's the challenge: There *may* have been someone out there who was taking high-res imagery - I know that both @BritAstro & @ALPOastronomy have alerted their members.
This just tweeted by the Project Scientist of NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter @LRO_NASA:
A beautiful still image showing the #lunareclipse impact flash has been uploaded to SpaceWeather.com by Petr Horálek: spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.p… Was taken with a 1100mm lens. cc @jccwrt @nepetro
Another still image (taken with a 203mm-aperture SCT) showing a bright point of light which matches the location of the flash seen in the other videos/stills: cc @nepetro
Right folks, if you have observing reports/images/video data of the #lunareclipse meteoroid impact flash get in touch with Justin and let's see if LRO can find anything! Consider this the amateur astronomy equivalent of the Bat-Signal!
More pics arriving in my mentions overnight: here's an excellent shot of the #lunareclipse meteoroid impact flash from astrophotographer @gregoryhogan. cc @jccwrt @nepetro
*This* is the power of social media for citizen science: less than 48hrs after I posted those tweets suggesting the #eclipseimpact might be real & that people should check their footage, more than a quarter of a million people (so Twitter tells me) have seen what's going on.
Thanks to everyone who has tweeted pics/video to me. And thanks to those who, like @chrislintott, gave an early signal boost. Remember, if you have good-quality images/video/visual reports of the #eclipseimpact, @jccwrt would like to hear from you.
