This is a treat. On Jan. 21st, a meteoroid slammed into the Moon. We know this because many amateur astronomers witnessed the explosion and recorded video and photos. The fireball was visible against the shadowy backdrop of a total lunar eclipse. Video of the event follows.

We know this because many amateur astronomers witnessed or photographed the explosion. Petr Horálek was one of them; he captured the fireball from Boa Vista, one of the islands of Cape Verde:

“As I was sorting through my pictures of the eclipse, I was trying to avoid images with dusty specks or hot pixels,” says Horálek. “Upon closer inspection, I realized this was no hot pixel. It was a flash of light on the Moon–and other astronomers had photographed it as well.”

At least a dozen reliable still images and videos of the impact have surfaced so far.

Here is video of the strike during the eclipse:

More at SpaceWeather.com