Skip Navigation
menu close modal

Resources

Shadowy Mountains on the Moon

shadowy mountains on the Moon
Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Published: October 9, 2017

The central peaks of Plaskett crater rise more than 6500 feet (about 2000 meters) above the shadowy crater floor. An image from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

ENLARGE

Related

The Moon's Montes Carpatus region, seen here by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, contains numerous examples of volcanic materials. 
More
mountainous moonscape
Montes Carpatus
Apollo 12 Experiments in Progress
More
an antenna deployed on the Moon's surface and an astronaut's shadow
Apollo 12 Experiments in Progress
Searchlights penetrate the darkness surrounding Apollo 8 on Pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center.
More
Searchlights illuminate the Apollo 8 spacecraft at night
Saturn Apollo Program
Mosaic of images taken by the robotic lunar lander Surveyor 7
More
hand-assembled grid of photo frames with annotations
Lunar Surface Mosaic from Surveyor 7
This photograph of a nearly full moon was taken from the Apollo 8 spacecraft on Dec. 22, 1968. 
More
nearly full moon, with some far side features visible
Nearly Full Moon from Apollo 8
 Wargo Crater is an 8.6-mile (13.8 km) diameter impact crater sitting on the northwest edge of Joule T crater, on the far side of the Moon.
More
Double impact crater on the Moon.
Wargo Crater
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, lunar module pilot, walks on the surface of the Moon.
More
astronaut on the surface of the Moon, next to a lander leg of the lunar module
Buzz Aldrin on the Moon
This view of Earth was photographed by the Apollo 15 crewmen as they sped toward the fourth lunar landing.
More
Image of Earth from Apollo 15
View of Earth Photographed by Apollo 15 on Voyage to the Moon
A view of the Moon's largest impact feature, the South Pole–Aitken basin, based on images from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
More
the heavily-cratered south polar region of Earth's Moon
The Moon's Largest Basin
A spectacular high-Sun view of a pit crater on the Moon's Mare Tranquillitatis.
More
a collapse pit in an otherwise smooth gray surface
Lunar Pit
We've got a lunar mystery on our hands! How did the Gruithuisen Domes form? 
More
This is an image of the Gruithuisen Domes, taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The Gruithuisen Domes protrude outward from the surrounding lunar terrain. The Gruithuisen Domes were formed by eruptions of silicic lavas, which didn't flow outward easily, creating domes.
A Lunar Mystery: The Gruithuisen Domes
The rising Earth above the lunar horizon as seen from the Apollo 8 spacecraft.
More
blue Earth against a black sky above the barren lunar surface
The rising Earth as seen by Apollo 8
Four Ranger 8 Camera P images taken on 20 February 1965 from a distance of 20 km about 9 seconds before impact on the Moon.
More
Four images of the moon's surface
Mare Tranquillitatis From 20 Km, 9 Seconds Before Impact
The Apollo 7 Saturn IB launched from the Kennedy Space Center's Launch Complex 34 at 11:03 a.m. October 11, 1968.
More
Apollo 7 spacecraft launching with large antenna in foreground
Apollo 7 Launches on October 11, 1968
High Oblique photograph (taken over New Mexico) of the Apollo 9 Command/Service Modules taken from the Lunar Module,"Spider",on the fifth day of the Apollo 9 earth-orbital mission.
More
Apollo 9 command module in space with Earth in background
Apollo 9 Mission Image - Command Module
This is a close-up view of an astronaut’s foot and footprint in the lunar soil, photographed by a 70 mm lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA).
More
Astronaut's foot and footprint on lunar soil
Saturn Apollo Program
The Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission ended on 17 December 2012 when the two spacecraft GRAIL A (Ebb) and GRAIL B (Flow) impacted the Moon.
More
Collection of images showing impact marks of two spacecraft that impacted the moon.
GRAIL Impact Sites
A spectacular high sun view of a pit crater in Mare Tranquillitatis as seen by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, revealing boulders on an otherwise smooth floor. Scientists estimate the depth to be...
More
Black and white image of deep crater on the moon.
Lunar Pits
Lunar swirls are bright curls on the surface of the Moon with the appearance of abstract paintings. They are unique to the Moon and have long defied easy explanation.
More
A white curly eye-like shape over a gray-scale pock-marked surface. Satellite image of the Moon. A scale bar shows the image is over 100 kilometers wide.
Lunar Swirl Reiner Gamma
Ranger 7 was the first U.S. mission to successfully impact the moon. This was one of more than 4,300 images sent back during the flyby.
More
Black and white image of craters on the moon.
Ranger 7: Moon Close Up
Astronaut Neil Armstrong blowing out candles on his birthday cake in the Lunar Receiving Laboratory Crew Reception Area after the Apollo 11 mission.
More
man blowing out birthday cake candles with people watching from behind
Birthday Boy
Astronaut David R. Scott, commander, is seated in the Lunar Roving Vehicle (LRV) during the first Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA) at the Hadley-Apennine landing site.
More
Astronaut driving rover on the moon
Apollo 15 Mission Image - View of the Apollo Lunar Surface Experiments Package (ALSEP)
Dunned in his space suit, mission commander Neil A. Armstrong does a final check of his communications system before before the boarding of the Apollo 11 mission. 
More
Neil A. Armstrong in his spacesuit
Saturn Apollo Program
Astronaut Russell L. Schweickart, lunar module pilot, stands in "golden slippers" on the Lunar Module porch during his extravehicular activity on the fourth day of the Apollo 9 Earth-orbital missio...
More
Astronaut in space
Astronaut Russell Schweickart Photographed During EVA
The second human lunar landing mission, Apollo 12, launched from launch pad 39-A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14, 1969 via a Saturn Five launch vehicle. 
More
Astronaut collecting rock samples on the moon
Apollo 12

You Might Also Like

Like Earth, the Moon has a day side and a night side, which change as the Moon rotates.
More
Diagram of the Moon's phases
Moon Phases
Between four and seven times a year, Earth, Moon and Sun line up just right to create the cosmic-scale shadow show known as an eclipse.
More
Composite of lunar eclipse phases over night sky
Eclipses
Several theories vie for dominance but most agree on one thing — Earth's Moon was born from destruction.
More
Artist depiction of two planets colliding.
Moon Formation