01D topographic maps

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Online Astronomy eText: Satellites (Moons)

Maps of The Moon: Topographic Map of The Moon's Far Side

A labeled topographic map of the Moon's far side (the side always facing away from the Earth) (source:USGS). North is at the top and South at the bottom. Using a selenocentric coordinate system (a system based on the view from the Moon), West is on the right and East on the left. Using a geocentric coordinate system (a system based on the view from the Earth), the western side of the Moon is on the left and the eastern side is on the right. Older maps tend to use the geocentric system, but space-age maps (which of course includes all maps of the far side) tend to use the selenocentric system.

Since the Moon has no air or water and hence no "sea level", zero altitude is set at the Moon's mean (average) radius of just over a thousand miles. Altitudes below that use bluer tones suggestive of oceanic regions on the Earth, and altitudes above that green and redder tones suggestive of land regions on the Earth (areas shown in gray have no reliable altitude data). As the result the lunar maria, once thought to be oceans, are shown as though they really were oceans, while the lunar terrae, once thought to be highlands, are shown as though they really were continents.

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Most of this page consists of small versions of huge maps of the Moon, which serve as an overview of the maps available, and links to the larger versions. However, it seems appropriate to start the page with an outstanding mosaic of the lunar nearside.

A lunar nearside mosaic (Image Credit GSFC / Arizona State Univ. / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA)

Usually, images of the full moon show no shadows and relatively little contrast, because we are viewing the Moon from the same direction as the Sun, and there are no shadows visible from our location. The above mosaic of thousands of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images, adjusted for foreshortening (near the limb) and taken slightly away from local lunar noon (so that there are some shadows) provides an enhanced view of the lunar nearside similar to that in the best hand-drawn maps. The same image is also shown below, but with some of the more prominent features (easily visible with binoculars and at least detectable even with the unaided eye) labeled.

Below, a lunar farside mosaic (Image Credit GSFC / Arizona State Univ. / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter NASA)

Click on any map below to link to a (much) larger version

Color-Coded Topographic Maps of the Moon

(source: USGS)

Topographic map of the lunar near side

Topographic map of the lunar far side

Topographic map of the Moon, centered on "western" side

Topographic map of the Moon, centered on "eastern" side

Topographic map of the Moon, centered on the North Pole

Topographic map of the Moon, centered on the South Pole

Shaded Relief Maps of the Moon

(Source: Lunar and Planetary Institute)

Shaded-relief map of the lunar nearside

Shaded-relief map of the lunar farside

Shaded-relief maps of the lunar poles

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Online Astronomy Text Table of Contents

Recent Updates / Recent Pictures / Recent Questions and Replies

© Courtney Seligman, 1993 - present

(This eText and its Table of Contents are a perpetual work in progress)

Section Links

Galaxies and the Universe / Appendices

Introduction to this eText

Preface (the purpose of this text, and its use in my classes)

The Use of Mathematics In My Lecture Classes (if you enjoy math, great; if not, don't worry about it)

False Colors in Astronomical Photographs (pictures may not lie, but they can still mislead)

Introduction to Astronomy

Our Place In Space (introduction to the Solar System)

The Realm of the Stars (introduction to extrasolar astronomy)

Looking at The Sky

The Starry Sky

Stars and Constellations (dividing the sky into manageable pieces)

Star Names / Name That Star -- Not! (how stars are named, or not)

Atmospheric Effects

Why Stars Twinkle

Atmospheric Refraction (how the atmosphere bends starlight)

Atmospheric Dispersion (how the atmosphere acts like a prism)

Atmospheric Scattering (why the sky is blue, and the setting Sun is red)

The Dome of the Sky

The Celestial Sphere (the apparent globe of the sky)

The Moon Illusion (why the Moon looks bigger, when rising or setting)

Astronomical Coordinates (measuring positions on the celestial sphere)

The PZS Triangle (placeholder)

The Motion of the Sky (that is, of the "fixed" stars)

Parallax -- (background geometry, critical to many parts of astronomy)

The Motion of the Sky (a general introduction) / Polar Animation

The Motion of the Sky at Different Latitudes (at the Poles, the Equator, and mid-latitudes)

The Many Motions of the Stars (introduction and links to more detailed discussions)

The Wanderers (introduction to non-stellar (or planetary motions)

The Motion of the Moon (around the sky in a moonth)

The Motion of the Sun (around the sky in a year)

The Changing Motion of the Sun (faster and slower)

The Motion of the Planets

Phases and Eclipses

Timekeeping and the Calendar

Timekeeping (sidereal, solar, and ephemeris time) / The Calendar (how we count the days)

Leap Years (why we have them) / Leap Seconds (why we have them and how they are used)

The Rotation of the Planets

The Rotation of the Earth

Rotation of the Other Planets

Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

The Seasons

Color-Coded Topographic Maps: Nearside / Farside / "West" Side / "East" Side / North Side / South Side

The Galilean Satellites: Io / Europa / Ganymede / Callisto

The Satellites (Moons) of Saturn: Titan, Mimas, Tethys, Telesto, Calypso, Dione, Helene, Rhea, Enceladus, Iapetus,Hyperion, Atlas, Janus, Epimetheus, Pan, Pandora, Prometheus, Phoebe

S2000 S1 to S12 and Later Discoveries, Daphnis (S2005 S1)

The Satellites (Moons) of Uranus: Miranda, Ariel, Titania, Umbriel, Oberon, Smaller Satellites (Moons) of Uranus

The Satellites (Moons) of Neptune: Triton, Proteus, Nereid, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Laomedeia,Halimede, Sao, Neso, Psamathe

The Satellites (Moons) of Pluto

Eris and Dysnomia

Asteroids, Comets, and Interplanetary Debris

Pictures of Asteroids / Asteroid Size and Mass Distribution / Asteroids and Meteorites

Asteroids & Comets Visited So Far / Ceres and Vesta / The Trojan Asteroids / Earth's Trojan Asteroid(s)

The Rediscovery of Hermes / Hermes Close Approaches

Comets / The Breakup of Comet P73/Schwassmann-Wachmann 3 / Comet P17/Holmes / 1857-58 Daumier Cartoons

Meteors, Meteoroids and Meteorites / Animation of the 2005 Perseid Meteor Shower / Meteor Craters / Meteorites

The Origin and Evolution of The Solar System

The Origin of the Solar System / The Episode of Planetary Bombardment / Orbital Regularities

The Origin of the Comets

The Origin of the Moon

The Melting and Differentiation of the Planets

The Formation and Evolution of Planetary Atmospheres

Background Physics: Light and Matter

Classical Descriptions of Light / Electromagnetism / Absorption, Emission, and Continuous Spectra / Black Body Radiation

Planck, Bohr and Einstein -- Quantum Physics and Relativity

Radioactivity / Thermonuclear Fusion / Main and Side Chains in Stellar Nucleosynthesis / Neutrinos

The Sun

Summary of Solar Properties

Pictures of the Solar Atmosphere / The Sunspot Cycle / Coronal Mass Ejections / The Heliosphere

The Rotation of the Sun / Extreme Ultraviolet Images of the Sun

The Structure of the Sun and the Nature of its Surface

The Solar Interior

Heat Flow in the Solar Interior: Changes in Brightness, Temperature, Pressure and Density

Energy Production in the Core / The Proton-Proton Cycle (brief notes) / The Carbon Cycle (brief notes)

Heat Flow in the Solar Interior: The Flow of Radiation / The Radiative Zone

Black Body Radiation

Heat Flow In Stars: General Principles / The Radiative Core (Zone) / The Convective Envelope (Zone)

Stars and Stellar Systems

Stellar Properties (includes The Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram)

Stellar Motions

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