Date: 7 Dec 1992
During its flight, the Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Moon.
The distinct bright ray crater at the bottom of the image is the Tycho impact basin. The dark areas are lava rock filled impact basins: Oceanus Procellarum (on the left), Mare Imbrium (center left), Mare Serenitatis and Mare Tranquillitatis (center), and Mare Crisium (near the right edge). This picture contains images through the Violet, 756 nm, 968 nm filters. The color is "enhanced" in the sense that the CCD camera is sensitive to near infrared wavelengths of light beyond human vision.
Last Update: 12 Apr 2011 (AMB)