NASA discovers Moon crater bigger than Rome’s Colosseum — rare impact went unnoticed for 2 years, occurs once every 132 years

Scientists have discovered a massive new crater on the Moon that was created by a powerful impact and remarkably, nobody noticed it when it happened. The crater is about 728 feet wide and up to 141 feet deep, making it the largest known lunar impact crater formed in recent times.

It is also bigger than Rome's famous Colosseum. The discovery could provide scientists with valuable information about how the Moon's surface changes over time, particularly as NASA prepares for future astronaut missions and plans for a sustained human presence on the lunar surface.

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NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spotted the crater on the Moon's near side in May 2024, shortly after the impact occurred. The impact was caused by a fragment from an asteroid or comet slamming into the lunar surface.

The LRO had captured wide-angle images of the area, but researchers did not identify the newly formed crater until August 2025, when they were examining the spacecraft's enormous volume of data.

More detailed images were collected later that year, and scientists confirmed the discovery early in 2026.

The finding was described as exceptionally rare. “This event constitutes a statistically rare, effectively once-in-a-lifetime observation,” researchers wrote in one of two studies published in Science Advances.

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The crater is three times larger than the previous record

The newly discovered crater has been named after Thomas McGetchin, a former director of the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston. At approximately 728 feet across, it is about three times larger than the previous record-holder for a recently formed crater discovered by the LRO.

Scientists estimate that an impact of this scale happens only about once every 132 years. That makes the crater an unusually valuable natural laboratory for researchers.

Unlike ancient lunar craters, whose formation can only be reconstructed from evidence left behind, this one was created recently enough for scientists to study its effects in detail. The collision did more than leave a deep hole.

According to researchers, the impact churned the Moon's surface across an area extending for more than 100 kilometres.

Dust and rocky material were blasted away from the crater at a higher angle than scientists had expected.

Mark Robinson, chief scientist for the LRO's cameras at Intuitive Machines and lead author of one of the studies, said the observations could help scientists better understand how lunar impacts distribute material across the surface.

The Moon is covered with impact craters because it has been struck repeatedly throughout its history. Some of its ancient craters are enormous, including one that stretches more than 2,400 kilometres across.

Scientists say impacts are like ‘gardening’ the Moon

A separate study found a 7-kilometre-wide cold spot surrounding the new crater.

Researchers believe the unusual feature is consistent with changes to the Moon's upper layer of soil, known as regolith.

David Paige, a study co-author from the University of California, Los Angeles, compared the process to gardening.

“We're now thinking of impacts as a way to garden the regolith — churning the sediments and putting stuff above that's usually below the surface,” Paige said.


The discovery could also change scientists' understanding of how quickly the Moon's surface is renewed.

The LRO's observations since its launch in 2009 have helped scientists identify numerous relatively recent lunar craters.

According to Robinson, the observations indicate that the Moon's top 2 centimetres of soil are overturned by material ejected from impacts roughly every 80,000 years.

That is faster than previously believed.

It also means the famous footprints left behind by the Apollo astronauts aren't permanent.

Contrary to the popular idea that the astronauts' footprints could remain on the Moon forever, Robinson said they will “definitely be long gone in that time frame.”

Why the discovery matters for NASA's Moon plans

The new crater could be useful for more than understanding lunar geology.

Future astronauts and lunar bases could potentially be exposed to material thrown into the air when impacts occur elsewhere on the Moon.

The next step, Robinson said, is determining the risk that debris ejected from newly formed craters could reach a future NASA lunar base.

“That information will help engineers harden structures so one won't have to worry about damage, or maybe worry less,” he said.

The discovery therefore offers scientists a rare opportunity: a fresh impact that can be studied almost like a natural experiment — while also providing information that could become increasingly important as humans prepare to return to the Moon.

(With AP inputs)