From Flash to Crater: Morphological and Spectral Analysis of the Brightest Lunar Impact on 11 September 2013 using LRO Data

TL;DR

This study analyzes a lunar impact event from 2013 using LRO data, revealing detailed morphological, spectral, and impactor characteristics, and demonstrating the potential for automated crater detection to improve impact flux estimates.

Contribution

The paper provides the first detection of color changes from a lunar impact and evaluates impact scaling laws and luminous efficiency, enhancing understanding of impact processes and detection methods.

Findings

Crater diameter approximately 35 meters

Spectral reddening observed in ejecta

Impact likely caused by a sporadic meteoroid

Abstract

We present a comprehensive morphological and spectrophotometric analysis of the lunar impact that occurred on September 11, 2013, based on pre- and post-event observations by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The crater formed exhibits a rim-to-rim diameter of $35 \pm 0.7$ m, a depth of $4.9 \pm 0.4$ m, and an ejecta blanket extending over 2 km with an area of approximately $7 \times 10^{5}\,$m$^{2}$. The ejecta shows a pronounced asymmetry and, assuming uniform distribution, an average thickness limit of $\sim 2$ mm. Spectral analysis using WAC images reveals a consistent reddening of the central ejecta region, with an average 16.54 % increase in spectral slope between 321 nm and 643 nm, marking the first reported detection of color changes resulting from a lunar impact. We evaluated several scaling laws and found that the Gault et al. (1974) formulation most accurately reproduces the observed crater size. Furthermore, luminous efficiency values below $\eta = 2 \times 10^{-3}$ and higher projectile densities are most consistent with the morphology of the ejecta. The impact direction inferred from this pattern is not compatible with the radiant of the September $\varepsilon$-Perseids stream. Moreover, an independent probability analysis yields a greater than 96 % likelihood that the event was caused by a sporadic meteoroid. Our results also demonstrate the potential of WAC imagery for the automated detection of new lunar craters, which can improve statistical estimates of the current impact flux. This methodology offers a powerful complement to high-resolution imaging, with important implications for both lunar safety and planetary defense.