Comments regarding William Herschel April 1787 report of an erupting volcano on the moon: were these observations the manifestation of Impact Melt, produced by a meteorite from the Lyrid meteor shower?

TL;DR

This paper reinterprets William Herschel's 1787 lunar eruption report as an observation of impact melt from a Lyrid meteor shower meteorite, suggesting a young lunar impact crater.

Contribution

It proposes that Herschel's lunar eruption observations were actually impact melt from a meteorite, linking historical observations to lunar impact events.

Findings

Likely impact crater is a lunar cold spot with similar coordinates to Herschel's report.

The impact event is characterized as very young.

The report's observations are consistent with impact melt phenomena.

Abstract

We consider that the report by William Herschel on April 19 and 20, 1787, about an erupting volcano on the moon were really the observations of impact melt, produced by a meteorite from the Lyrid meteor shower. According to our investigation the probably resulting crater of this event is a lunar cold spot, with coordinates similar to those given in Herschel report, and we also argue that this impact has very young characteristics.