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Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn
Explanation:
The Mare Orientale,
Latin for Eastern Sea, is one of the most striking
large scale lunar features.
The youngest of the large lunar impact basins it's
very difficult to see from an
earthbound
perspective.
Still, taken during a period of favorable tilt, or libration of the lunar
nearside, the Eastern Sea can be found near top center in this sharp
telescopic view, extremely foreshortened
along the Moon's western edge.
Formed by the impact of an asteroid over 3 billion years
ago and nearly 1000 kilometers across, the
impact
basin's
concentric circular features, ripples in the lunar crust,
are a little easier to spot in
spacecraft images of the Moon, though.
So why is the Eastern Sea at the Moon's western edge?
The Mare Orientale lunar feature was named before 1961.
That's when the convention labeling
east and west on lunar
maps
was reversed.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Moon
Publications with words: Moon
See also:
- APOD: 2025 June 20 B Major Lunar Standstill 2024 2025
- APOD: 2025 June 18 B Space Station Silhouette on the Moon
- APOD: 2025 April 22 B Terminator Moon: A Moonscape of Shadows
- Moon Near the Edge
- APOD: 2025 April 8 B Moon Visits Sister Stars
- APOD: 2025 April 6 B Moonquakes Surprisingly Common
- Lunar Dust and Duct Tape