Science, Space and Technology News 2024
Satellite image of the Luna impact crater captured on February 24, 2024, by the Operational Land Imager on Landsat 8.
New analysis of a round depression in the salty plains of the Kutch Basin revealed telltale signs of a prehistoric meteorite impact. In the Kutch district of northwest India, a vast desert where salt is harvested in colorful rectangular ponds stretches to the Arabian Sea. In a neighboring grassland, a less conspicuous circular feature has attracted curiosity in recent decades. Scientists in India had suspected, but not confirmed, that an object from outer space made this mark on the landscape.
The footprint of the newly studied Luna impact crater—named for its proximity to a village of the same name—is visible in this image, acquired by the OLI on the Landsat 8 satellite on February 24, 2024. The crater measures approximately 1.8 kilometers across, and its outer rim rises about 6 meters above the crater floor.
The Luna structure is situated in India’s Gujarat state in a grassland called the Banni Plains. The Great Rann of Kutch, an expansiveare submerged for much of the year, and the Luna crater often contains water. Researchers took advantage of a dry period in May 2022 to collect samples from throughout the structure.under the extremely high temperatures and pressures generated when a meteorite hits the ground.
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