The crater was discovered in satellite images by Boston University researchers Farouk El-Baz and Eman Ghoneim.More details over here.
El-Baz named the crater “Kebira,” which means “large” in Arabic and also relates to its location on the northern tip of the Gilf Kebir region in southwestern Egypt.
“Kebira may have escaped recognition because it is so large—bigger than the area of 125 football fields, or the total expanse of the Cairo urban region from its airport in the northeast to the Pyramids of Giza in the southwest,” El-Baz said today. “Also, the search for craters typically concentrates on small features, especially those that can be identified on the ground. The advantage of a view from space is that it allows us to see regional patterns and the big picture.”
Scientists discover 31km wide crater in Egypt
Posted on Monday, March 06 2006 @ 1:13 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
Scientists found one of the largest craters ever found in the Saharan desert. The crater is 31km (19 miles) wide and it was likely caused by a meteorite of 0.75 miles wide.