Clementine Collection

This fantastic view of the Moon was acquired by the attitude determination camera (Startracker) on board the Clementine spacecraft. The Moon is illuminated only by Earthshine - that is, sunlight reflected from the Earth to the Moon. The Sun is actually behind the Moon, though the outer portion of the Sun, the solar corona, is visible over the limb. The ringed basin disappearing into the darkness is the Orientale basin. The deep shadows cast by its steep walls give a dramatic emphasis to its classic multi-ring morphology.

A high resolution image is also available. Warning: this is a very large image (18 Mbytes)!

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