Scientists find huge impact crater in Egypt, page 1

Experts from Boston University have detected a previously unknown impact crater in the Sahara Desert in Egypt. The sheer size of the crater, at 31km wide made it difficult to detect. The scientists found it from observations of satellite images.

Huge impact crater found in Egypt

A giant crater made by a meteorite impact millions of years ago has been discovered in Egypt's western desert.

Boston University experts found the 31km (19 mile) wide crater while studying satellite images of the area.

It is more than twice the size of the next largest Saharan impact depression and more than 25 times the size of Arizona's famous Meteor Crater.

The American team that found it says its sheer size may have helped it escape detection all these years.

The structure, which has an outer rim surrounding an inner ring, has been named "Kebira", which means "large" in Arabic and also relates to the crater's physical location on the northern tip of the Gilf Kebir region in southwest Egypt.

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There was no indication from the article as to when the impact crater would have formed. However, the article did suggest that the meteor that caused it might have been as large as the one that caused Meteor Crater in Arizona.

I wonder how many more of these impact craters lie hidden in plain sight on the Earth's surface.