Last Tuesday, LRO's orbit was just above the lunar terminator (the day/night boundary), so huge shadows highlight topography and render many relatively normal areas of the Moon nearly unrecognizable. This is the rim of Anaxagoras A crater, located in the highlands near the north pole. The floor is in shadow, but just from looking at the rim you can see the rounded shape and subdued nature of this ancient crater. Its old age is especially apparent when juxtaposed against the sharp rims of the younger and smaller craters, which can be seen even more clearly in the full-resolution version of this image. Image width is approximately 9 kilometers, and north is down.
Published by Brett Denevi on 6 July 2009