Discover the cosmosEach day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
Explanation:Tidally locked insynchronous rotation, the Moon always presentsits familiarnearsidetodenizens of planet Earth.
From lunar orbit, the Moon’s farside can become familiar, though.
In factthis sharp picture, a mosaic from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter’s wide angle camera, is centered on the lunar farside.
Part of aglobal mosaicof over 15,000 images acquired between November 2009 and February 2011, the highest resolution version shows features at a scale of 100 meters per pixel.
Surprisingly, the rough and battered surface of the farside looks very different from the nearside covered with smooth dark lunar maria.
A likely explanation is that thefarside crust is thicker, making it harder for molten material from the interior to flow to the surface and form dark, smooth maria.
Tomorrow’s picture:Sunday’s Childe