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A video posted on X on August 30, 2023, depicted the surface of the moon getting struck by an asteroid moving at a fast pace, creating a perfectly round doughnut-shaped fiery explosion. User Kristi Yamaguccimane shared the video and inquired in the caption if it was real.
Tracing back the origin of the video, it was found that a YouTuber, Diego Sinclair, posted the clip on YouTube on February 25, 2023. The caption read:
“Asteroid Hitting The Moon! #lunarsurface #telescope #moon #asteroid”
Thus, it can be deduced that Sinclair’s caption was what created confusion among other internet users who were led to question the authenticity of the collision demonstrated in the viral video. As such, the moon in the video did not get struck by an asteroid.
The YouTuber also posted plenty of other videos containing unrealistic space phenomena. Sinclair clarified in the comments that although NASA had shared videos of an impact on the moon and the flash that it generated, this particular video was an edit.
Later, on June 3, an Instagram page, @thedeepastronomy, reposted the video on their feed and mentioned that the clip was made using CGI.
Netizens react to CGI video of asteroid colliding with moon's surface
Many people immediately figured out that the video was an edit. They reasoned that a collision on Earth's natural satellite cannot cause a fiery explosion since there is no oxygen there. Meanwhile, some people joked about how fake the video was.
Impacts on the moon are at times visible from Earth
While this viral video did not capture an actual moment of an asteroid hitting Earth’s natural satellite, NASA said that objects do collide with the natural satellite’s surface and produce bright flashes of light. Sometimes, these lights are bright enough to be witnessed with one’s naked eye from Earth.
However, the video demonstrated a fiery explosion causing the bright light, which is not true. One such cascading fireball would require oxygen for its ignition. However, there is no oxygen on the moon, which is why the impacts never produce fire. Rather, hot vapors and the thermal glow of liquefied rocks at the site of impact cause the bright flashes of light created during these collisions.
Some people might also ask how something can explode on Earth’s natural satellite if it lacks oxygen. The answer is that oxygen or combustions aren’t required for lunar meteors to be visible. These meteors hit the surface with a lot of kinetic energy that can make even a pebble produce a several-foot-wide crater.
