+0.15 A meteorite hit the moon during yesterday's total lunar eclipse

Name: HRCB Evaluation: A meteorite hit the moon during yesterday's total lunar eclipse
Item: A meteorite hit the moon during yesterday's total lunar eclipse
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+0.15	A meteorite hit the moon during yesterday's total lunar eclipse (www.newscientist.com)
	600 points by curtis 2592 days ago \| 142 comments on HN \| Mild positive Editorial · v3.7 ·

Summary Scientific Access & Privacy Tension Acknowledges

This science news article reporting on a meteorite impact during a lunar eclipse demonstrates observable positive alignment with Articles 19 (freedom of expression) and 27 (sharing scientific progress) through free, globally distributed scientific information that supports public access to knowledge and scientific literacy. However, the publication's structural architecture reveals a significant tension: extensive third-party tracking and data monetization systems (14+ ad vendors, auto-enrollment push notifications) create a mild-to-moderate negative signal regarding Article 12 (privacy rights), suggesting the platform prioritizes data extraction alongside information distribution.

Article Heatmap

Negative Neutral Positive No Data

Aggregates

Weighted Mean	+0.15	Unweighted Mean	+0.15
Max	+0.30 Article 27	Min	-0.10 Article 12
Signal	3	No Data	28
Confidence	6%	Volatility	0.18 (Medium)
Negative	1	Channels	E: 0.6 S: 0.4
SETL	0.00	Balanced
FW Ratio	61%	14 facts · 9 inferences

Evidence: High: 0 Medium: 3 Low: 0 No Data: 28

Theme Radar

HN Discussion 12 top-level · 21 replies

scrumbledober 2019-01-22 21:56 UTC link

Scott Manley did a great quick video about this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Smp7TqccTpY

sizzzzlerz 2019-01-22 22:48 UTC link

I know its just a coincidence that the meteor hit during a lunar eclipse while millions of people might have been watching (and probably not seeing it). But, it gives me chills to think that lump of rock has been orbiting through the solar system for possibly billions of years with its unknown fate already sealed. All it took was for the Sun and all the planets and moons to go through their cycles an uncountable number of times to bring it to its ultimate conclusion.

Now, unknown asteroid, your watch is done.

wizzard 2019-01-22 22:57 UTC link

> The so-called “super wolf blood moon” was eagerly watched by millions of people around the world, mostly via live streaming video.

How do they know most people watched via live stream as opposed to just looking out the window or a telescope?

Syzygies 2019-01-22 23:04 UTC link

Wouldn't a meteorite impact be even more visible in the dark part of a new moon? Why did researchers go out of their way to observe one during a lunar eclipse?

(In elementary school during NASA's Mercury program, a joke made the rounds that a certain Eastern Bloc country's space program would land on the Sun by "flying at night".)

ttonkytonk 2019-01-22 23:16 UTC link

Anybody know what time the strike occurred?

cpeterso 2019-01-22 23:43 UTC link

This story reminded me of Neal Stephenson's 2015 novel Seveneves, where the Moon, struck by some unknown object, breaks apart. Most life on Earth is destroyed except for a few thousand people who can escape. Humanity has one year to prepare civilization for 5000 years in orbit before they can safely return to Earth again. Very interesting thought experiment on the technological and genetic outcomes!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seveneves

bitwize 2019-01-23 01:47 UTC link

So it was a SuperBloodWolfMeteorImpactMoon. Awesome.

diggernet 2019-01-23 03:37 UTC link

Looking forward to high resolution before and after photos from LRO.

jelliclesfarm 2019-01-23 07:09 UTC link

“Agent”!!! Seveneves by Neal Stephenson!

bsherrill 2019-01-23 08:05 UTC link

I’m curious are we sure it was an asteroid that hit the surface?

demarq 2019-01-23 11:42 UTC link

still amazed something the size of a football could cause that

swebs 2019-01-23 12:05 UTC link

Did the impact produce light, or was that kicked-up dust reflecting sunlight?

ghilston 2019-01-22 22:36 UTC link

I can't read his name without hearing it in his voice:

> Scott Manley here

anonytrary 2019-01-22 22:57 UTC link

If you think about it, the Earth and Moon and every other lump of rock in the universe are not fundamentally different than this one. Eventually their watches will end, too.

SiempreViernes 2019-01-22 22:59 UTC link

Well, it is not that much coincidence that it was seen during an event where millions paid extra close attention and the moon itself was less bright.

gibolt 2019-01-22 23:14 UTC link

After watching the video, I feel like there should be software that gets regular updates of planetary surfaces and highlights drastic changes.

Probably exists somewhere, but would be neat to see historical changes

chabes 2019-01-22 23:15 UTC link

It sounds like it was simply observed by multiple separate casual observations. I doubt anyone would “go out of their way to observe one during a lunar eclipse”

cybersol 2019-01-22 23:32 UTC link

I didn't see it, but a couple of people in chat on the live PBS feed mentioned it. IIRC it was about half-way between peak and going back to partial.

sp332 2019-01-22 23:33 UTC link

04:41:43 UTC https://www.reddit.com/r/space/comments/ai79zy/possible_mete... and https://twitter.com/chrfrde/status/1087532344909676545

gowld 2019-01-23 00:00 UTC link

It was visible from all of North and South America, and Western Europe, so most people couldn't see it.

quizme2000 2019-01-23 00:08 UTC link

Spoiler Alert! Yes in the first pages there is a moon event, the rest of your comment just gives away the plot.

quizme2000 2019-01-23 00:12 UTC link

What is interesting is that the flash may have not been visible to the naked eye, but most DSLR type camera that were used to stream the eclipse would pick it up.

Also NASA was (and currently) shutdown during the eclipse.

jessriedel 2019-01-23 00:25 UTC link

> for possibly billions of years with its unknown fate already sealed

Probably not for quite that long. The path of a meteor is only going to be deterministic on a timescale given roughly by the largest Lyapunov exponent associated with its orbit. On longer timescales, even the very tiny irreducible quantum uncertainty in its initial state would be enough to cause it to miss the Moon.

Not sure what the Lyapunov time is for these meteors, but typical time scales for planets are 2M-200M years. For small things like meteors, there are likely other sources of noise (e.g., solar wind pressure) with quantum uncertainty that lead to non-determinism even faster.

noonespecial 2019-01-23 00:29 UTC link

Something the size of a football hit the moon so hard we saw it happen 238,900 miles away...

That's a spectacular end if you ask me.

macintux 2019-01-23 00:58 UTC link

The project that captured this one also actively monitors around new moons and previous eclipses.

samstave 2019-01-23 02:52 UTC link

Why dO we not have a continuous high def stream of the moon period

One should be able to go to moon.com and literally see the state of the moon at that exact moment i. Real time, i. High def

buzzert 2019-01-23 02:53 UTC link

This book has my second favorite opening line in a sci-fi book (right behind Neuromancer). You can read the first few pages for free on Neal's website! https://www.nealstephenson.com/news/2015/04/13/seveneves-exc...

dylan604 2019-01-23 06:38 UTC link

Yes, the new moon is when they are most active, however, one of the guys in the program specifically has been trying to see an impact during an eclipse for quite some time now. The shadow of the Earth causes the new moon phase, and it is the same shadow that causes the eclipse. Why wouldn't they take the free bonus 2ish hours of dark moon time to search?

doh 2019-01-23 06:40 UTC link

I have a crazy deja vu. I picked up this boom yesterday night and read the first chapter before going to sleep. And then this came along. I though for a second that I had to dream the plot.

Tepix 2019-01-23 08:57 UTC link

Did you really have to put a spoiler in the first sentence? Sheesh!

LandR 2019-01-23 09:08 UTC link

As opposed to ?

SmellyGeekBoy 2019-01-23 10:51 UTC link

On the subject of the "super wolf blood moon" I wonder how many more random words they can stuff in there to keep the interest of tabloid newspaper readers and Facebook aunts.

rishav_sharan 2019-01-23 11:46 UTC link

Okay i will bite. Why "super wolf"?

Editorial Channel

What the content says

+0.30

Article 27 Cultural Participation

Medium Coverage Advocacy

Editorial

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SETL

Article reports on a scientific discovery (first documented meteorite impact during total lunar eclipse) and makes the findings and their significance publicly accessible. Publication extends scientific knowledge and understanding to non-specialist audiences, supporting public participation in scientific progress and benefit-sharing.

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Article 19 Freedom of Expression

Medium Coverage Advocacy

Editorial

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SETL

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Article reports on scientific discovery and makes factual scientific information freely available to global audience. Publication and dissemination of verified information about observable natural phenomena supports freedom to receive and impart information without interference.

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Structural Channel

What the site does

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Article 19 Freedom of Expression

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Structural

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Article is structurally accessible globally with no geographic restrictions, paywalls, or authentication barriers. Schema.org markup confirms isAccessibleForFree: true and requiresSubscription: false. Global CDN distribution enables uniform access across all regions and populations.

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Article 12 Privacy

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Site implements extensive third-party tracking infrastructure with 14+ ad/analytics vendors (Facebook, Google Ads, Rakuten, Microsoft Bing, Nativo, Sailthru, ABTasty, Chartbeat, Feefo, Aimwell, AppCast, Reddit, Alchemer, Miso). OneSignal push notification system configured with autoRegister: true, enabling enrollment without explicit prior user consent. GDPR/CCPA consent framework present but structured to maximize vendor access via consent management platform.

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