NASA’s Landsat 9 satellite captured an ancient, spider-shaped impact structure known as Spider Crater in Western Australia’s Kimberley region on September 20, 2026. Measuring 13 by 11 kilometers, the geological feature consists of pale sandstone ridges formed by a massive meteorite collision hundreds of millions of years ago.
What appears from orbit as a pale arachnoid sprawling sprawling across the red terrain of Western Australia’s Kimberley region is actually an ancient geological scar. The Operational Land Imager aboard the joint NASA and U.S. Geological Survey Landsat 9 satellite photographed the unusual landform, providing a sharp look at its sweeping ridges and central dome.
Dimensions and Geography of Spider Crater
The complete impact structure spans an oval area measuring approximately 13 kilometers long by 11 kilometers wide, or about 8 miles by 7 miles. At its heart lies the distinctive spider-like pattern, which stretches roughly 4 kilometers across.
The crater sits within a remote, rugged desert landscape where green vegetation contrasts with red rocks. Because the terrain is difficult to reach on foot, satellite imaging has served as an essential tool for documenting the structure since its discovery in the 1950s.
Geological Forces That Built the Spider-Like Ridges
For decades after the feature came to light, scientists debated how it formed, with some early researchers proposing a volcanic origin. Field studies eventually resolved the mystery by uncovering telltale evidence of a hypervelocity impact.
Geologists found fan-shaped fractures called shatter cones distributed throughout the central dome. These specialized structures form only when intense shock waves travel through rock during a high-speed collision. Laboratory analyses of shocked quartz and zircon crystals from the sandstone have further confirmed the immense pressures involved, while also helping researchers reconstruct the angle of the meteorite’s impact.
For decades after the feature’s discovery, scientists struggled to weave a tale about its formation. Some proposed it had a volcanic past. However, through boots-on-the-ground investigations, researchers eventually spotted definitive markers of an ancient collision: fan-shaped fractures known as shatter cones.
The distinctive legs
visible from space are actually erosion-resistant sandstone ridges. When the meteorite struck, the immense force crushed the ground, causing the crater floor to rebound and form a raised central uplift. Over hundreds of millions of years, weathering wore away the surrounding weaker rock layers, leaving behind the pale, branching ridges that define the landscape today. Analyses of the formation have long indicated that the body hit at a shallow trajectory rather than vertically, aligning with the stretched, oval shape visible from orbit. The location was captured by Space Shuttle radar in a 2002 study, and NASA has showcased it previously, such as in an earlier Earth Observatory detailed view. A 2013 investigation by researchers Kenkmann and Poelchau, referenced by NASA, examined the central uplift directly, whereas a preceding 2005 publication by Abels in the Australian Journal of Earth Sciences detailed the entire impact structure across the Kimberley Plateau.
Dating the Precambrian Impact in Australia
Pinpointing the exact moment of the collision remains difficult due to the age of the site. Geological estimates derived from surrounding regional rock layers place the event between 900 million and 600 million years ago, making the crater a relic of the late Precambrian era—long before dinosaurs or complex terrestrial life emerged.
Australia preserves several other ancient impact scars, including the Yarrabubba structure and the Acraman Crater. Yet Spider Crater remains distinct for the intricate, leg-like pattern carved by millions of years of wind, water, and erosion.