Astronomy Picture of the Day [1]Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer. 2024 August 30 [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available. Southern Moonscape Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Lorand Fenyes Explanation: [5]The Moon's south pole is toward the top left of this [6]detailed telescopic moonscape. Captured on August 23, it looks across the rugged southern lunar highlands. The view's foreshortened perspective heightens the impression of a dense field of craters and makes the craters themselves appear more oval shaped close to the lunar limb. Prominent [7]near center is 114 kilometer diameter crater Moretus. Moretus is young for a large lunar crater and features terraced inner walls and a 2.1 kilometer high, central peak, similar in appearance to the more northerly [8]young crater Tycho. Mountains visible along the lunar limb at the top can rise about 6 kilometers or so above the surrounding terrain. Close to the lunar south pole, [9]permanently shadowed crater floors with expected reservoirs of water-ice have made the rugged south polar region of the Moon a [10]popular target for exploration. Tomorrow's picture: light-weekend __________________________________________________________________ [11]< | [12]Archive | [13]Submissions | [14]Index | [15]Search | [16]Calendar | [17]RSS | [18]Education | [19]About APOD | [20]Discuss | [21]> __________________________________________________________________ Authors & editors: [22]Robert Nemiroff ([23]MTU) & [24]Jerry Bonnell ([25]UMCP) NASA Official: Amber Straughn [26]Specific rights apply. [27]NASA Web Privacy, [28]Accessibility Notices A service of: [29]ASD at [30]NASA / [31]GSFC, [32]NASA Science Activation & [33]Michigan Tech. U. References 1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2408/lorand_fenyes_hold_0016_Moretus_hegyvidek.jpg 3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 4. https://fenyeslorand.hu/en/ 5. http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/posts/237 6. https://fenyeslorand.hu/naprendszerunk/ 7. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2408/lorand_fenyes_hold_0016_south_pole.jpg 8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap210805.html 9. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap230505.html 10. https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-identifies-candidate-regions-for-landing-next-americans-on-moon/ 11. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240829.html 12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html 13. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html 14. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html 15. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search 16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html 17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod.rss 18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html 19. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html 20. http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=240830 21. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap240831.html 22. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html 23. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/ 24. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html 25. http://www.astro.umd.edu/ 26. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply 27. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html 28. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/ 29. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/ 30. https://www.nasa.gov/ 31. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/ 32. https://science.nasa.gov/learners 33. http://www.mtu.edu/