Brightest moon explosion ever recorded announced by NASA (VIDEO)
An artist illustration of a meteor impacting the moon, resulting in an explosion that can be visible from Earth.
A huge meteorite slammed into the moon's surface at a mind-boggling 56,000 mph in March, sparking the largest lunar explosion ever recorded, NASA said Friday.
The explosion on March 17 was the biggest seen since NASA began watching the moon for meteoroid impacts about eight years ago, according to Reuters.
More from GlobalPost: NASA probe crashes into moon; NASA will name crash site after Sally Ride (VIDEO)
So far, more than 300 strikes have been recorded.
The March blast lasted just one second but was as bright as a 4th magnitude star—so bright it could be seen with the naked eye.
More from GlobalPost: NASA issues historic preservation guidelines for the moon
Scientists estimate the rock was about 1 foot wide and weighed about 88 pounds.The explosion it created was as powerful as 5 tons of TNT, UPI reported.
The impact carved a 65-foot-wide crater into the moon.
"It exploded in a flash nearly 10 times as bright as anything we've ever seen before," Bill Cooke, with NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., said in a statement.
The story you just read is available for free because thousands of listeners and readers like you generously support our nonprofit newsroom. Every day, reporters and producers at The World are hard at work bringing you human-centered news from across the globe. But we can’t do it without you: We need your support to ensure we can continue this work for another year.
Make a gift today, and you’ll get us one step closer to our goal of raising $25,000 by June 14. We need your help now more than ever!