April 11, 2010

Polar Pastime

image by " rel="nofollow Dmitry Makolkin, Moscow, Russia

The lunar south polar region gets more attention than the north pole area because the topography is more dramatic. But, as this excerpt from Dmitry's " rel="nofollow mosaic illustrates, there are interesting topo details in the north too. The basic character of the landscape is different - it is flatter because most of the craters are partially filled with basin ejecta from Imbrium. Only a few post-Imbrium craters are conspicuous, including Scoresby (center top) and Anaxagoras (left) with rays radiating away to the east. When I am observing this area I get my bearings using the distinctive conjoined twins Challis and Main, just poleward of Scoresby. Despite the north pole's lack of large permanently shadowed craters there appears to be much [/March+2%2C+2010 more ice] there than in the more visually dramatic opposite pole.

" rel="nofollow Chuck Wood

Technical Details
Mar 25, 2010. TAL-250K + DMK 31AU03.AS + Astronomics IR ro 743nm filter. Registax 5.1beta, 350/2500 frames.

Related Links
Rükl plate 4
History note: Apollo 13 was launched toward the Moon 40 years ago today - a failed mission and one of NASA's greatest triumphs.

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