The Moon's North Pole

The Moon's North Pole
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NASA image release September 7, 2011

The Earth's moon has been an endless source of fascination for humanity
for thousands of years. When at last Apollo 11 landed on the moon's
surface in 1969, the crew found a desolate, lifeless orb, but one which
still fascinates scientist and non-scientist alike.

This image of the moon's north polar region was taken by the Lunar
Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, or LROC. One of the primary scientific
objectives of LROC is to identify regions of permanent shadow and
near-permanent illumination. Since the start of the mission, LROC has
acquired thousands of Wide Angle Camera images approaching the north
pole. From these images, scientists produced this mosaic, which is
composed of 983 images taken over a one month period during northern
summer. This mosaic shows the pole when it is best illuminated, regions
that are in shadow are candidates for permanent shadow.

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University