February 3, 2012
Looking Poleward
image by NASA News - GRAIL
This is not a very high quality image, but its perspective is unique and its possible consequences could be huge. Do you recognize the area? I immediately noticed the crater on the left with dark mare on the floor and two bright peaks on the mare edges. This is the 143 km wide farside feature Antoniadi which is transitional between central peak craters and multi-ring basins. The second thing I noticed are the various isolated mountains such as the one near the terminator near bottom center. Another huge one is on the right above the large flat-floored crater. Look around and you will see other massive peaks. We usually see these peaks from another perspective. That large crater on the far right is Hausen, and limbward of it is Bailly, whose scattered peaks suggest an inner basin ring, as at Antoniadi. Two craters to the left of Bailly is the central-peaked crater Drygalski. Notice the massive curved mountain range that runs from Drygalski towards Bailly - is this a rim of the putative Bailly-Newton Basin? If so, the center is significantly misplaced. The first sentence here mentioned huge effect. The video that this image is from was made with a camera on the Ebb spacecraft, one of the two GRAIL spacecraft orbiting the Moon to measure its gravity field. Both Ebb and its sister craft Flow - great names! - carry video cameras to collect images for kids. The goal is to use these videos and images to inspire kids to become interested in the Moon, space, science, and hopefully to contribute to the future of America.
Chuck Wood
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