Dr. John Barentine FRAS

These are some mountains and craters near the #lunar south pole casting shadows near the dividing line between night and day. The image was made at about 06:00 UTC on 24th February, just a few hours before the #Moon was full.

Close to the center of this image is the crater Malapert A, where the #Odysseus spacecraft has come to rest on its side. The pole itself is 300 km further away in the darkness.

#Astronomy #Astrophotography #LunarAstrophotography

Feb 24, 2024 at 7:07amWeb
Show threadDr. John Barentine FRASFeb 24, 2024
For context, here’s a view of the full moon taken around the same time. The shadows in the detail image are *just* barely visible around the bottom edge of the disc.
Show threadDr. John Barentine FRASFeb 24, 2024

A better version of this image with as many features marked as I could identify. IM-1 Odysseus landed in Malapert A, marked in red. For scale, the mountains have heights of ~4-8 km.

A surprising number of features in the lunar south polar region still don't have IAU names.

#Moon #LunarAstronomy