Moon from Above
July 2, 2009
This view looking down on the north pole of the moon was assembled from 18 images taken by the Galileo spacecraft's imaging system on Dec. 7, 1992. The part of the moon visible from Earth is toward the left. Also visible in this view are the dark lava plains of the Marginis and Smythii basins, lower right. The Humboldtianum Basin, a 400-mile impact structure partly filled with dark volcanic deposits, is visible in the middle of the image. The moon's north pole is located just inside the shadow zone about a third of the way from the top left of the lighted region.
Topics: Environment, Planemos, Moons, Astronomy, Planetary science, Mare Humboldtianum, Mare Marginis, Lunar science, Solar System, Io, Moon, Technology Internet