by APOD Robot » Sun Apr 10, 2022 4:05 am
Shadows at the Moon's South Pole
Explanation: Was this image of the Moon's surface taken with a microscope? No -- it's a
multi-temporal illumination map made with a wide-angle camera. To create it, the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft collected 1,700 images over a period of 6 lunar days (6 Earth months), repeatedly covering an area centered on the
Moon's south pole from different angles. The resulting images were stacked to produce the
featured map -- representing the percentage of time each spot on the surface was illuminated by the
Sun. Remaining convincingly
in shadow, the floor of the 19-kilometer diameter
Shackleton crater is seen near the map's center. The
lunar south pole itself is at about 9 o'clock on the crater's rim. Crater floors near the lunar south and north poles can remain in permanent
shadow, while mountain tops can remain in nearly
continuous sunlight. Useful for
future outposts, the
shadowed crater floors could offer
reservoirs of water-ice, while the sunlit mountain tops offer
good locations to collect
solar power.
[url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220410.html] [img]https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/S_220410.jpg[/img] [size=150]Shadows at the Moon's South Pole[/size][/url]
[b] Explanation: [/b] Was this image of the Moon's surface taken with a microscope? No -- it's a [url=https://www.lroc.asu.edu/posts/271]multi-temporal illumination map[/url] made with a wide-angle camera. To create it, the [url=https://lunar.gsfc.nasa.gov/about.html]Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft[/url] collected 1,700 images over a period of 6 lunar days (6 Earth months), repeatedly covering an area centered on the [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_south_pole]Moon's south pole[/url] from different angles. The resulting images were stacked to produce the [url=https://www.lroc.asu.edu/posts/271]featured map[/url] -- representing the percentage of time each spot on the surface was illuminated by the [url=https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/solar-system/sun/in-depth/]Sun[/url]. Remaining convincingly [url=https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4043]in shadow[/url], the floor of the 19-kilometer diameter [url=https://www.south-pole.com/p0000097.htm]Shackleton[/url] [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shackleton_(crater)]crater[/url] is seen near the map's center. The [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200206.html]lunar south pole[/url] itself is at about 9 o'clock on the crater's rim. Crater floors near the lunar south and north poles can remain in permanent [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap190722.html]shadow[/url], while mountain tops can remain in nearly [url=https://i.ytimg.com/vi/zlngRTDQMAk/hqdefault.jpg]continuous sunlight[/url]. Useful for [url=https://www.nasa.gov/specials/artemis/]future outposts[/url], the [url=https://youtu.be/EA46nq6klPw]shadowed crater[/url] floors could offer [url=https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap101025.html]reservoirs of water-ice[/url], while the sunlit mountain tops offer [url=https://www.whatnextnow.com/home/solar/where-is-the-best-location-on-earth-for-solar-energy]good locations[/url] to collect [url=https://climatekids.nasa.gov/concentrating-solar/]solar power[/url].
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