Asteroid cause of cosmic collision dates back to 3.7 billion years

According to a new study, the right eye of the “Man on the Moon” is the most probably the cause of a cosmic collision that occurred 3.8 billion years ago. The report revealed the stunning fact that an asteroid approximately 150 miles (241.4 kilometers), dubbed to be the length of New Jersey may have hit the moon. As a result, a mysterious structure named the Imbrium Basin was formed. Visible as a dark patch in the northwestern part of the moon’s face, the Imbrium Basin is about 750 miles (1,207 kilometers).

Commenting on the development, Professor Pete Schultz, a planetary scientist at Brown University revealed that the study has confirmed that the presence of Imbrium Basin was established by a gigantic object, which can be tagged as a protoplanet. In the past, the computer model data resulted in a size of about 50 miles (80.4 kilometers) in diameter.

In the meantime, the mysterious compound was seen surrounded by gashes and grooves that can be visible to the naked eye only with the help of small telescopes from Earth. These grooves are formed by rocks that erupted out of the crater.

The researchers disclosed that new features are called Imbrium Sculptures and erupted from the center like spokes on a wheel. They are mainly concentrated on the southeast side, which clearly depicts the fact that the impactor originated from the northeast.

During the study, researchers also noticed another set of grooves with a completely different alignment, which originated from either a northwest region or the relevant path from where the impactor originated.

Meanwhile, Schultz had worked with David Crawford to generate computer models that portray the same kind of behavior that would probably happen at massive scales of a lunar effect.

The researchers, during the course of the study, also arrived at the possible impactors on the other basins of the moon such as Moscoviense and Orientale basins. They noticed that the size of the impactors were 100 kilometers (62 miles) and 110 kilometers (68.4 miles) across respectively.