NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) continues to crank out scads of data and imagery of Earth’s Moon.
The Moon-circling spacecraft was launched on June 18, 2009. It has been busy providing new scientific information about our celestial neighbor in gravitational lock.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) team at Arizona State University — led by Principal Investigator, Mark Robinson — have captured a dramatic sunrise view of Tycho crater.
First the spacial stats: Tycho is 51 miles in diameter. The summit of the central peak is 2 km (6562 ft) above the crater floor. The crater floor is about 4700 m (15,420 ft) below the rim.
According to Robinson’s posting on the LROC website, Tycho’s features are so steep and sharp because the crater is young by lunar standards, only about 110 million years old. Over time, micrometeorites, and not so micro meteorites, will grind and erode these steep slopes into smooth mountains.
LROC images clearly show that the central peak formed very quickly; the peak was there when impact melt that was thrown straight up during the impact came back down. Amazing! Instant mountains!, Robinson explains.
Or did the melt get there by a different mechanism? The fractures probably formed over time as the steep walls of the central peak slowly eroded and slipped downhill. Eventually the peak will erode back such that the big boulder will meet its demise as it slides 2000 meters to the crater floor, notes Robinson.
LROC photos: NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Here’s a bonus video! Check out LROC Explores Tycho Central Peak here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=361YcacQZjg&feature=player_embedded
By Leonard David