No one saw the actual collision, but scientists say the upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket did indeed slam into the moon.

The chunk of rocket was expected to unintentionally crash into the moon early Wednesday.

A telescope in Chile spotted what astronomers have identified as the debris plume resulting from the crash. While researchers at the Korea Aerospace Research Institute said its lunar probe Danuri got images of the crash site before and after the upper stage of the rocket hit the moon.

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"Danuri began observing about 30 minutes before the collision, passing over the collision point several times through orbital control, and conducted a total of eight observations," the KARI said.

The European Southern Observatory’s Very Large Telescope captured images of “spectral lines” or the "chemical fingerprints" of sodium and lithium gas in the impact plume lasting for five to 10 minutes after impact, the agency said in a Facebook post.

The four-ton piece of hardware came from a SpaceX launch in January 2025. The mission successfully deployed a lunar lander on the moon. Then, solar activity and gravitational forces caused the upper stage to head toward the moon, instead of falling back to Earth like they usually do.

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The rocket was set to slam into the moon at 5,400 mph, or about seven times the speed of sound. The expected result: a crater roughly 16 feet deep and an estimated 89 feet across.

There's also a chance one of NASA's lunar probes captured images of the crash site, too. Retired astrophysicist Jonathan McDowell told AP visual confirmation will have to wait for NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to send back photos of the impact crater. The space agency doesn't expect that to happen until next week.

NASA said that "disposing of upper stages on the lunar surface is a technically accepted and safe method and, in some cases, can be the only practical option for missions in low lunar orbit."

Will the new crater get a name?

It appears unlikely the new crater will get a name — or at least an official name.
That kind of stuff is handled by the International Astronomical Union's Task Group for Lunar Nomenclature, which is a specialized body under the Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature.

The Lunar Nomenclature Task Group says, "In general, official names will not be given to features whose longest dimensions are less than 100 meters, although exceptions may be made for smaller features having exceptional scientific interest."

As for naming it after a person, the group says a person's name can be used in special circumstances and if the person was of "high and enduring international standing." The person also has to have been dead for three years.