Featured Images
New Evidence For Young Lunar Volcanism!
One of many newly-discovered young volcanic deposits on the Moon (4.330°N, 33.750°E), this example is near the crater Maskelyne. The direction of sunlight is from the right and north is up, NAC M1123370138R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 12 Oct 2014
Casting a Long Shadow
Sun angle profoundly affects the surface features of the Chang'e 3 landing site. When the Sun is higher in the sky (low incidence angle), the tracks left by the Yutu rover and the bright blast zone around the lander are most visible....
Published on 09 Oct 2014
The Chang'e 3 Landing Site in 3D
Slope map overlain on an LROC NAC image of the Chang'e 3 landing site at 44.12°N, 340.49°E in Mare Imbrium. The Chinese spacecraft landed just to the east of the large crater near the center. Slopes range from zero (blue) to...
Published on 07 Oct 2014
Two-Planet Perspective from Lunar Orbit
Composite of Earth and Mars imaged in a single NAC frame on 24 May 2014. This amazing view of two planets was visible from lunar orbit when LROC pointed homeward! Mars is about 12 pixels wide; Earth was downscaled by a factor of eight...
Published on 02 Oct 2014
Two Faces of Mars (from the Moon)
Moon-facing hemisphere of Mars on 8 May 2014 at 14:27:04 UTC seen from lunar orbit! Instruments on LRO sometimes use stars and planets for calibration or other special observations. During one of these off-Moon observations, LROC...
Published on 30 Sep 2014
Resolved Hapke Parameter Maps
LROC Wide Angle Camera (WAC) color composite mosaic of the Moon, photometrically normalized using new Hapke parameter maps. Red: 689 nm, green: 415 nm, and blue: 321 nm band; latitude 55°S to 55°N, longitude -68.6° to 41.4°E.
Published on 28 Sep 2014
Another New Crater!
A new crater on the Moon! The bright flash of formation for this ~34 meter diameter crater was captured by an Earth based telescope on 11 September 2013. LROC M1151993656L, image is 1000 m wide [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 15 Sep 2014
Secondary Scatter
A stream of secondary craters dots the rim of Haret C crater in this LROC NAC mosaic (M1163608929). This scene is illuminated from the north (top of image). Image width is approximately 2 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 04 Sep 2014
Lovely Lichtenberg B
Lichtenberg B is a beautifully preserved young impact crater. Rock outcrops in the upper portion of the crater wall are due to the successive thin lava flows that filled Oceanus Procellarum more than 3 billion years ago. The crater is...
Published on 02 Sep 2014
Tadpole and Lava Tube
An irregularly shaped depression, resembling a tadpole (center left), which is part of a sinuous chain of pits. The black arrow indicates the beginning of the pit chain that trends to the southeast. This feature is about 8 km long and...
Published on 29 Aug 2014
Mare Pit Topography!
The crisp morphology of the central Mare Fecunditatis pit (white arrow) stands out in elevation data and suggests a relatively young age. This pit is about 200-m in length and 45 m deep. Image width is 5 km; north is up. Color...
Published on 27 Aug 2014
Striped Crater
Dark mantle deposits decorate a crater wall. Slowly pulled downhill by gravity, the volcanic glasses that compose these stripes where formed during explosive volcanic eruptions on the Moon. The scene is 952m wide from NAC image...
Published on 25 Aug 2014
Frozen Motion
The scoured floor of Harkhebi J crater, near the young crater Giordano Bruno (22 km diameter). Ejecta from Giordano Bruno flowed across the surface, leaving a record for us to see today. LROC NAC image M1128791817L; north is up and the...
Published on 20 Aug 2014
Littered Wrinkles
LROC NAC image M1144863959L of portion of a wrinkle ridge found in Mare Nubium. The crest and side of the ridge is lined with high reflectance boulders, likely eroded from the fractured basalts that make up the ridge. Image width...
Published on 14 Aug 2014
Fresh, But Not So Clean
LROC NAC image M131515002R showing two similarly sized craters, ~500 m in diameter, but one is littered with boulders and the other is not. This boulder discrepency is most likely due to age differences between the two craters....
Published on 12 Aug 2014
Dark Patches
Unusual low refectance patch in ejecta from an unnamed fresh crater. LROC NAC M1136029632L, image width is 1170 m, incidence angle is 32° [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 07 Aug 2014
Fractures and Boulders
Fractured impact melt left the interior of De Forest crater lined with boulders. LROC NAC M125650563L, image width is 720 m, North is up [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 05 Aug 2014
A Tortuous Path in Posidonius
This may look like a work of abstract art, but in reality, it's for science! This colorful image is an LROC slope map of the northwestern portion of the floor of Posidonius crater. Warmer colors indicate steeper slopes, whereas cooler...
Published on 31 Jul 2014
Making a Splash at King Crater
Impact melt ponds adorn the lumpy terraces of King crater. If you look carefully, you can see small fractures in some of the these ponds. LROC NAC mosaic (M1159315479L/R), image width is approximately 8 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 29 Jul 2014
Banded Slump in Berzelius W
A complex interplay of slumping and slides in the northwest wall of Berzelius W result in banding patterns; downslope is toward the bottom right. LROC NAC M174921824R; image width 600 m [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 24 Jul 2014