One of the geologic features that makes Copernicus special is its extensive, high-reflectance ejecta rays across nearby mare that superpose (overlap) ejecta from other craters - Copernican ejecta extends more than 500 km from the impact(s) site. In this high-Sun image, albedo differences are enhanced, and the arrows indicate several "fingers" of ejecta and their direction of emplacement - away from Copernicus, from the southwest). LROC Narrow Angle Camera observation M127050121L; LRO orbit 3857, April 27, 2010; alt. 37.69 km. Full Featured Image detail corrects for an unusually high camera slew angle of -11.64° Field of view seen here is 376 meters [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
-Lillian Ostrach
LROC News System
Check out Wilhelms' Geologic History of the Moon for more information about Copernicus crater and the lunar geologic timescale.
A deceptively feather-like ejecta blanket superposed on the northeast quadrant of the Copernicus impact, along with certain other clues, has led some to suggest twin progenitors, striking essentially simultaneously. - 90 by 90 km field of view from LROC six consecutive Wide Angle Camera passes in LRO orbits 2466 through 2471, January 8 & 9, 2010. (Mosaic made possible using LROC_WAC_Previewer v.1.6 & Microsoft Research ICE v.1.5) - [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].
Discover the Copernicus ejecta deposits for yourself in the full LROC (corrected) Narrow Angle Camera frame, HERE. Observation details, HERE.
Recent Additional Reading:
The smooth anomaly in Copernicus
September 29, 2010
Copernicus and the lunar timescale
September 29, 2010
Copernicus
September 23, 2010
LROC: New views of the Copernicus interior
May 5, 2010
LOLA's Copernicus
April 30, 2010
0 comments:
Post a Comment