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Aristarchus Plateau on the Moon
The Hubble Space Telescope Advanced Camera for Surveys imaged Aristarchus crater and nearby Schroter's Valley rille on Aug. 21, 2005. The Hubble images reveal fine-scale details of the crater's interior and exterior in ultraviolet and visible wavelengths at a scale of approximately 165 to 330 feet (50 to 100 meters) per picture element.
Aristarchus crater is 26 miles (42 kilometers) in diameter and approximately 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) in depth, and sits at the southeastern edge of the Aristarchus plateau. The plateau is noted for its rich array of geologic features, including a dense concentration of lunar volcanic rilles (river-valley-like landforms that resulted from the collapse of lunar lava tubes), source vents, and volcanic materials that erupted in giant explosive events. Aristarchus is one of the youngest large craters on the Moon. It probably formed between 100 and 900 million years ago.
This composite image shows that many of the crater's fresh impact features are still well preserved, including a sharp rim, inner crater wall terraces, central uplift structures, and a pattern of excavated and ejected materials, known as ejecta, which blankets the nearby surroundings. This spectacular Hubble image reveals the diversity of ultraviolet- and visible-light signatures of crater ejecta, interior wall deposits, central peak materials, and those of the surrounding plateau.
These new ultraviolet-light observations, after being compared and calibrated against Hubble's ultraviolet-light observations of the Apollo 15 and 17 landing regions, will be used to quantify abundances of ilmenite, a titanium-bearing oxide of potential value as a resource for human exploration of the Moon. This image was processed by the Hubble Space Telescope Lunar Exploration team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Northwestern University, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.
The image orientation is such that North is at the top of the image.
About the Object
- DistanceDistanceThe physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs.The Moon is 238,857 miles (384,403 kilometers) from the Earth.
- DimensionsDimensionsThe physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky.The Moon has a diameter of 2160 miles (3476 kilometers).
About the Data
- Data DescriptionData DescriptionProposal: A description of the observations, their scientific justification, and the links to the data available in the science archive.
Science Team: The astronomers who planned the observations and analyzed the data. "PI" refers to the Principal Investigator.These HST data are from proposal 10719. NASA's HST Lunar observation team is led by Chief Scientist J. Garvin. The team includes M. Robinson (Northwestern Univ.), D. Skillman (NASA/GSFC), B. Hapke (Univ. of Pittsburgh), C. Pieters (Brown Univ.), M. Ulmer (Northwestern Univ.), J. Bell (Cornell Univ.), and J. Taylor (Univ. of Hawaii). - InstrumentInstrumentThe science instrument used to produce the data.HST>ACS/HRC
- Exposure DatesExposure DatesThe date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time.August 21, 2005
- FiltersFiltersThe camera filters that were used in the science observations.F250W (250nm), F344N (344nm), F502N (502nm), F658N (658nm)
- Object NameObject NameA name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object.Moon
- Object DescriptionObject DescriptionThe type of astronomical object.Earth's Satellite
- Release DateOctober 19, 2005
- Science ReleaseNASA’s Hubble Looks for Possible Moon Resources
- Credits
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Claire Andreoli
NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center
Greenbelt, MD
claire.andreoli@nasa.gov
