Featured Images

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

Small Step or Giant Leap?
A house-sized boulder (more than 30 m in diameter) left a clear impression (arrow) in the lunar surface. This boulder was thrown a relatively short distance (500 m) to the east of a young 1.6-km crater (rim crest to the left); LROC NAC...
Published on 21 Jul 2014

Dorsum Nicol
This tectonic feature was formed as stresses built up in the lunar crust until the rock gave way. The energy released was immense, and the displaced rock is the north-south trending wrinkle ridge that we see today. This is LROC NAC...
Published on 17 Jul 2014

Birt E
Birt E crater is thought to be the source region for lava that carved out Rima Birt, a rille in Mare Nubium. This mare is older than 3.4 billion years, and so is this vent! LROC NAC M1144849711LR with the a color DTM overlaid; North is...
Published on 15 Jul 2014

Donut Holes
LROC NAC image M180430508R showing central mounds, ~1 km diameter each, on the floor of Harriot B crater. Image width is ~3 km and North points up [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Published on 10 Jul 2014

A Rille to Rover Over
LROC NAC image M1145219838 of a rille found on the Southwestern edge of Oceanus Procellarum. This rille most likely formed from the stress added to the crust as the mare deposits were emplaced and cooled [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State...
Published on 08 Jul 2014