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The lunar south pole is the southernmost point on the Moon. It is of interest to scientists because of the occurrence of water ice in permanently shadowed areas around it. The lunar south pole region features craters that are unique in that the near-constant sunlight does not reach their interior.
Lunar south pole. Aitken (crater) The South Pole–Aitken basin (SPA Basin, / ˈeɪtkɪn /) is an immense impact crater on the far side of the Moon. At roughly 2,500 km (1,600 mi) in diameter and between 6.2 and 8.2 km (3.9–5.1 mi) deep, it is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System. It is the largest, oldest, and deepest ...
Shackleton is an impact crater that lies at the lunar south pole. The peaks along the crater's rim are exposed to almost continual sunlight, while the interior is perpetually in shadow. The low-temperature interior of this crater functions as a cold trap that may capture and freeze volatiles shed during comet impacts on the Moon.
Cabeus (crater) Cabeus Crater (left) as imaged by the Diviner instrument on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Cabeus is a lunar impact crater that is located about 100 km (62 mi) from the south pole of the Moon. [3] At this location the crater is seen obliquely from Earth, and it is almost perpetually in deep shadow due to lack of sunlight.
The largest crater called such is about 290 km (180 mi) across in diameter, located near the lunar south pole. However, it is believed that many of the lunar maria were formed by giant impacts, with the resulting depression filled by upwelling lava. Craters typically will have some or all of the following features:
The Chang'e-6 craft, equipped with an array of tools and its own launcher, touched down in a gigantic impact crater called the South Pole-Aitken Basin on the moon's space-facing side at 6:23 a.m ...
To the south of Tycho is the crater Street, to the east is Pictet, and to the north-northeast is Sasserides. The surface around Tycho is replete with craters of various sizes, many overlapping still older craters. Some of the smaller craters are secondary craters formed from larger chunks of ejecta from Tycho.
The Chandrayaan-3 landing site, called Shiv Shakti Point, was about 217 miles (350 kilometers) away from the rim of the South Pole-Aitken Basin, considered the oldest crater on the moon.