A three-tonne discarded part of a rocket is expected to have crashed into the Moon12:25 GMT giving rise to another creator at the point of impact, according to scientists tracking the event.

The rocket part had been tracked for a number of years, but it was not clear to whom it belonged. At first, astronomers thought it might have belonged to Elon Musk's SpaceX firm, but then it was thought that it had come off a Chinese rocket. 

According to a BBC report, the effects of the impact on the Moon should have been minor. The rocket stage would have dug out a small crater and created a plume of dust. Scientists hope to get confirmation in the coming days, or weeks.

The rocket part is what's known as "space junk" – hardware discarded from missions or satellites without enough fuel or energy to return to Earth.

Some pieces are closer to Earth, but others, like this booster, are thousands of kilometres away in high orbit, far from Earth's atmosphere.

The rocket part was first sighted from Earth in March 2015 by a Nasa-funded space survey.

Also read: India to focus daylight harvesting to reduce electricity consumption