NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) has revealed McGetchin crater, a 728-foot-wide (about 222 m) impact scar on the Moon's eastern edge. Formed sometime between April 11 and May 22, 2024, it is the largest newly formed crater ever identified in the solar system, according to a study published September 16 in Science Advances.
The crater is 141 feet deep and was blasted out by a comet or asteroid roughly the size of a three- to six-story building. Image-processing specialist Robert Wagner spotted it during a routine data-quality check in October 2025. The impact also created a cold zone extending about 4 miles around the crater, where nighttime surface temperatures are around 16°F cooler.
Impacts of this size are thought to happen about once a century, or even less often. LRO has now identified more than 1,000 new craters over 17 years of observations, which helps scientists gauge hazards as NASA prepares for a sustained human presence on the Moon. The crater is named after lunar scientist Tom McGetchin.