Images Featured Sites Quickmap Videos Gigapan Exhibits Exciting New Images from The LROC Team. Total posts from J. Stopar 31 Search A Rain of Rock A rain of rock carved these craters west of Vavilov crater. The ground here, which is elevated relative to the surrounding terrain, intersected with rock and other ejected debris excavated during the formation of Vavilov crater. The result was a tight cluster of irregular and V-shaped secondary craters about 2 to 2.5 km in diameter. NAC anaglyph M182123981_M182109685 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 28 May 2020 Islands in the Dark Darkness surrounds illuminated peaks between Shackleton crater (rim crest at right) and de Gerlache crater (out of scene left). As lunar days and seasons progress, darkness creeps along this elevated ridge near the south pole. Image width 15 kilometers, NAC M1195011983LR [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 20 May 2019 Probing the Lunar Surface Using Small Impact Craters A fresh impact crater with finely detailed ejecta patterns. How has this crater changed since it was formed? Can the shape of this crater tell us anything about the surface in which it formed? The crater cavity (centered at 20.870°S, 350.299°E) is roughly 185 m in diameter, LROC NAC M183588912R [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 20 Oct 2017 Color of the Lassell Massif A shock of color on the Moon! The Lassell Massif (a so-called "red spot") in Mare Nubium appears orange in the center of this WAC color composite image. The image was derived by assigning red to 689 nm, green to 415 nm, and blue to 321 nm images. The image was enlarged by a factor of two for viewing here (the original data was sampled to 400 m per pixel); north is up. Image is 190 km across. [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 12 Sep 2016 Thick and Sticky Melt-Rock Colorized slope map of a fresh impact crater and its ejecta. A deposit of solidified melt-rock and debris was formed at the end of the impact event on the floor of this 1.5-km diameter crater. The flat-lying floor materials (purple, center of crater) are bordered by a lobate margin (cyan band), suggesting viscous flow as it traveled downslope into the crater cavity. NAC-derived slopes are shown in color, where pink and purple represent low slopes (<5°) and yellow and orange represent steep slopes (30-40°); NAC image M1112998800; north is up [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 15 Apr 2016 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. But when the Sun is lower in the sky (high incidence angle), the long distinctive shadows cast by the lander are more prominent. Each month when LROC acquired a new image of the landing site, the Sun's position in the sky was different. Images: M1147290066 (17 Feb 2014), M1149645693R (16 Mar 2014), M1152001999R (13 Apr 2014), and M1154358210R (10 May 2014); images are enlarged by a factor of two [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 09 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 to create this composite image; LROC NAC E1155564561 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. 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 imaged Mars. This Moon-facing hemisphere of Mars has a dark (low albedo) feature on the west limb (left) that is Acidalia Planitia, and the bright (high albedo) region on the east limb (right) is Arabia Terra. LROC NAC M1154198455R is enlarged by a factor of 7 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 30 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 600 m deep, and is located in the mare northwest of Gruithuisen crater. Color shaded-relief depicts elevation from NAC DTM PITVENT; higher elevations are red and white, lower elevations are blue and purple; north is up [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. 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 shaded-relief created from NAC DTM FecundPit; higher elevations shown in red and lower elevations in blue and purple [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University]. Published on 27 Aug 2014 Prev 1 2 3 4 Next ← Previous Next → Displaying Post 1 - 10 of 31 in total
