The Moon Just Got Bigger

By Nancy Atkinson - February 22, 2011 at 3:24 PM UTC | Planetary Science

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Take a gander at this brand new image of the Moon from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, which is one of the largest and highest resolution images ever compiled of the near-side of the Moon. For two weeks in mid-December 2010, LRO's orbit allowed the spacecraft to remain looking straight down. Gathering over 1,300 images during this time, LRO's imaging run allowed the team to compile a monstrous 24,000 x 24,000 pixel mosaic from the Wide Angle Camera (WAC), with a resolution of approximately 145 meters per pixel. The detail is nothing short of spectacular.

You can go the LROC website and see

a 1400 X 1400 version,

another

1400 X 1400 version with labels,

and the

full version that you can "Zoomify" and see incredible detail

like never before.

Source:

LROC website.