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Credit & Copyright: Lorand Fenyes
Explanation:
The Moon's south pole
is toward the top left of this
detailed
telescopic moonscape.
Captured on August 23, it
looks across the rugged southern lunar highlands.
The view's foreshortened perspective heightens the impression of a
dense field of craters and makes the craters themselves appear
more oval shaped close to the lunar limb.
Prominent
near center is
114 kilometer diameter crater Moretus.
Moretus is young for a large lunar crater
and features terraced inner walls and a 2.1 kilometer
high, central peak, similar in appearance to the more northerly
young crater Tycho.
Mountains visible along the lunar limb at the top can rise about
6 kilometers or so above the surrounding terrain.
Close to the lunar south pole,
permanently shadowed crater floors
with expected reservoirs of water-ice
have made the rugged south polar region of the Moon a
popular
target for exploration.
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A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Moon - crater
Publications with words: Moon - crater
See also: