…The orbiter has been in space for nearly 17 years now, the longest of any lunar-orbiting mission. An advantage of always having this spacecraft whizzing around the Moon is that we can see when anything changes on the lunar surface…

…The new crater, measuring 225 meters (738 feet) in diameter, is far larger than other craters discovered by the orbiter…

…“Prior to this discovery, the largest crater found to have formed during the LRO mission had a diameter of 70 m [230 feet],”…

The crater has an average depth of around 43 meters (141 feet), and is surrounded by bright streaks of lunar ejecta, material thrown up following the impact event…

While this is a new crater, as a result of the impact, the Moon’s crater tally went down.

“Only two preexisting craters are detectable within two radii (4 and 8 m [13 and 26 feet] diameters), and both occur within 30 m [98 feet] of that limit,” the team explains. "All other craters (maximum 40-m [131 feet] diameter) within that limit were obliterated or so degraded that they are no longer detectable…