Action Shot

A NASA spacecraft captures images of the Moon that verge on cosmic art.

Since 2009, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft has collected hundreds of thousands of images of the Moon and beamed them to Earth. Combined into a global mosaic, the images provide a dynamic look at how the Moon’s surface is changing over time. But individually, the striking visual contrasts of the grey-tone landscapes convey rich texture and abstract beauty.

This small, unnamed crater displays a beautiful ejecta pattern resembling a starburst. Looking at this image you can almost imagine the shower of ejecta falling to the ground. The pattern formed out of high and low reflectance areas is due to the freshness of the ejecta. Imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.