Mapping the Moon

July 16, 2014 4:28 PM

The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC, is a system of three cameras mounted on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) that capture high resolution photos of the lunar surface . . . .The LROC team assembled 10,581 NAC [narrow angle camera] images, collected over 4 years, into a spectacular northern polar mosaic.
posted by insectosaurus (5 comments total)

Wow, that's an incredibly detailed and beautiful image.

Makes me want to plop an Mk2 Lander Can smack dab in that big crater.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 4:36 PM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

Are the craters really so thickly clustered at the pole, or is it some trick of the light? Seems an odd angle for so many meteor hits.
posted by Greg_Ace at 4:50 PM on July 16, 2014

Are the craters really so thickly clustered at the pole?

No, I think it's just a projection effect, the bane of mapmakers and wide-field astronomers. Relevant xkcd, of course.
posted by RedOrGreen at 4:55 PM on July 16, 2014 [1 favorite]

So cool!
posted by brundlefly at 6:20 PM on July 16, 2014

I am unreasonably excited about this in an almost entirely unscientific way.

I just love the moon.
posted by louche mustachio at 8:35 PM on July 16, 2014