‘Spectral lines’ and a giant plume: what science saw when the SpaceX rocket hit the moon

A SpaceX rocket crashed into the moon on Wednesday, sending up a plume of dust that created ‘spectral lines’ that were picked up via telescope. Photograph: Sergei Grits/AP

A telescope in Chile has captured evidence of the impact caused by part of a SpaceX rocket slamming into the moon while travelling at 8,690km/h (5,400mph).

The European Southern Observatory’s (ESO) Very Large Telescope observed “spectral lines” – a colourful illustration of sodium and lithium gas – in the plume of lunar dust stirred up by the impact.