LPOD May 4, 2008
IS THIS YOURS?
image by Maciek Michalunio, Poland
I've done it again. I've lost the email that an image came attached to, so I have a good LPOD image but no idea who sent it. Please, use your name as part of the filename for any images you send. Thanks. So what about this image? It is not a mystery, it shows the area west of Procellarum at about 70°W, right on the equator. The largest "crater" with the relatively smooth mare floor is actually the inner ring of the impact basin Grimaldi. A part of the much more fragmental outer ring is visible to the east (right) south of the crater Damoiseau. The mare floor of Grimaldi is interesting because it contains a dome on top of a dome. The large dome is about 40% the diameter of the most visible ring of Grimaldi - it is visible because a tenuous shadow on its west side marks its edge. With a diameter of about 90 km this is one of the biggest domes on the Moon. Near the big domes north end is a slightly steeper dome about 18 km wide. Across the equator is another possible dome on the floor of rille-crossed Hevelius. This domical structure, about 30 km long, seems to be defined by reatively straight edges.
Chuck Wood
This image was submitted to the LPOD Photo Gallery - I forgot that I harvested it from there! Thanks for the reminder, Maciek!
Technical Details
19.02.2008. C11 at F-6m. TouCam Pro 15fps. IR pass filter.
Related Links
Rükl plates 28 & 39
COMMENTS
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(1) Chuck--I hope you can find the author of this image. When I look at images like this and other LPODs, I've often thought of how wonderful it would be to be able to "fly" across the surface of the Moon at low altitude, and to move in any direction--like in a small plane. I wonder if it would be possible to develop a drone craft of some sort that could swoop in and out of craters, etc.? Just imagine the dramatic photos it could take!
--Bill
Bill - I think we will be able to do what you envision within the next 2 years. But it will be computer animation based on high resolution digital terrain models rather than direct video from a flying vehicle. We will have 2-4 such DTMs from the Chinese, Japanese, Indian and US orbiters, and the software is in place now.
--Chuck
(3) Chuck--That sounds exciting. I look forward to seeing it! --Bill
