SPACEX ROCKET TO HIT THE MOON: A dead SpaceX rocket is closing in on the Moon--and it's going to hit. On Aug. 5th (0635 UT) an old Falcon 9 upper stage will slam into the lunar surface near Einstein crater at 5,400 mph. It's the same rocket that launched the Blue Ghost lunar lander back in January 2025.

We wrote about this event on June 13th, reporting that amateur astronomers probably can't see the explosion. Although the impact will create a fireball like tons of TNT, the crash site is fully daylit. No impact flash has ever been convincingly detected on the Moon's sunlit surface even by professional telescopes.

The impact plume is a different story. When the rocket hits, it will excavate a 10 to 20 meter crater and loft ~800,000 pounds of debris. A new model of this plume was just published in an arXiv preprint. Researchers believe it could be seen from Earth silhouetted against black sky above the Moon's edge.

The plume could linger for as much as 10 minutes. To see it hugging the bright lunar limb, authors of the preprint suggest using a selenograph--a kind of "lunar coronagraph" that blocks the glare. Alternatively, frame the shot so the sunlit disk sits just off the edge of the camera's sensor.

Want to try? Backyard-class telescopes might work. Shoot at high cadence (aim for 20+ frames per second). Because the impact happens in lunar daylight, an infrared J-band filter may help cut sky brightness.

Ambitious observers might even try a narrow filter at the lithium 670.8 nm line. The stage's aluminum-lithium tank could infuse the plume with a faint lithium glow. Do a dry run on Aug. 4th, when the Moon sits at nearly the same phase and position.

Observers in the eastern half of North America and much of South America have the best view: map. Good luck!

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"ALWAYS AND FOREVER" METEOR CRATER PENDANT: Have you heard of Moissanite? It's a very rare mineral discovered by 19th-century chemist Henri Moissan in Arizona's Meteor Crater. At first, he thought it was diamond, but later realized it was even more rare. Until the 1950s, was found naturally only in meteorites.

On Aug. 2, 2025, the students of Earth to Sky Calculus launched this Moissanite pendant to the stratosphere onboard a cosmic ray research balloon:

You can have it for $229.95. Engraved with the words "I love you always and forever," the sterling silver frame bends around the Moissanite in a heart-shaped curve--all highlighted by glittering 5A cubic zirconia nuggets.

The students are selling space pendants to pay the helium bill for their cosmic ray ballooning program. Each one comes with a greeting card showing the jewelry in flight and telling the story of its trip to the stratosphere and back again.

Far Out Gifts: Earth to Sky Store
All sales support hands-on STEM education

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