February 10, 2013

Hidden Roughness

left: Apollo AS17-M- 0307 image from " rel="nofollow ASU Apollo Image Atlas, and right LRO mosaic from " rel="nofollow LRO QuickMap

The Moon is dead, but it keeps changing before our eyes. That is what makes it so fascinating.
When I came across this marvelous terminator image from the Apollo 17 Metric Camera, I real-
ized that the lava surface near Dawes was far more tortuous than it appears on most of the other
images I'd seen. The LRO mosaic on the right has a relatively high Sun angle and it depicts an
apparently relatively homogenous mare surface. But under nearly grazing lighting the surface is
rough everywhere, and broad undulations become visible - see north and west of Beketov. With
only a limited amount of the surface covered by such low Sun images it is impossible to under-
stand the origins of the undulations. Perhaps if we had similar images for the entire Moon we
would discover a new level of surface processes. I keep hoping that such a mosaic will come
from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera team.

" rel="nofollow Chuck Wood

Related Links
Rükl plate 25
21st Century Atlas charts 8 & B5.

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