Bad Astronomy

Sen: Lunar Cartography

Moon Map
Mare Orientale, a huge impact crater on the Moon’s far side.

Photo by USGS/NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

The United States Geological Survey just released two incredible and incredibly beautiful maps of the Moon, made using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. They are highly detailed and quite lovingly produced. 

I wrote about them for my twice-monthly column at Sen.com (subscription required). The USGS site says they will be available as prints, but they’re not online to order just yet. Still, the PDFs are very nice and, I’d think, very handy. If it ever stops raining here in Colorado, I’d like to compare them to the view through the eyepiece!

Correction, May 19, 2015, at 21:00 UTC: In the picture caption, I misidentified the mare as a basin.