July 21, 2011
Light Plains And Little Cuts
north to the left image by Max Teodorescu, Dumitrana, Romania
The low Sun and smooth tonal processing highlight the diferrences between most of the old, rugged highland terrain seen here and the very smooth fill at upper right. The location is south of Mare Nectaris and north of Janssen; Neader is the 50 km wide central peak crater just above center. The smooth material occurs inside the Altai Scarp basin ring that is fragmented but continues past Piccolomini to this area. This material is not dark and there are no obvious dark halo craters so it is probably not mare lavas. Many scientists assume that such relatively bright smooth plains are ejecta from impact basins, but if so why does it not cover the area outside the basin? Perhaps the most interesting feature though is the fracture below Neander. Previous LPOD images have shown evidence that it is a rille and possibly also a fault. Max's image now indicates that it is a rille that crosses a dome just near the bend in the rille. It does cut the light-hued smooth plains so it is not a rille in pure highlands rocks, but it is still weird.
Chuck Wood
Technical Details
July 19, 2011 01:40-01:53 U.T. 12" Newtonian @F/20, DBK 41AU02.AS with Baader 685nm Long pass IR filter.
Related Links
Rükl plate 68
Yesterday's LPOD: One Small Spaceship for Man
Tomorrow's LPOD: Lion Moon
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