Oblique Narrow Angle on Aristarchus Cobra Head

Oblique (-67.03° off nadir) view of sunrise within the deep interior of the famous Cobra Head of Schröter Valley on the Aristarchus Plateau. Field of view from a mosaic of both left and right frames of LROC Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) observation M177927543, LRO orbit 11357, December 7, 2011. The scene is centered near 25.2°N, 310.7°E (49.3°W)  [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

A wider field of view from the same LROC NAC mosaic (the area outlined by the white rectangle is shown at full resolution in the opening image), the widest, deepest channel of Schröter Valley. Near the lower right corner of the rectangle is Tier 1 Constellation Region of Interest (ROI) Aristarchus 1 (24.56°N, 48.95°W) [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

Full scope (small scale) rendition of the LROC NAC mosaic of the left and right frames of LROC NAC observation M177927543 [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

The Cobras Head of Schröter Valley, with bright streaks of ejecta blown northwest from the Copernican Age impact that formed Aristarchus crater superimposed on a landscape at 3.1 billion years old. LROC Wide Angle Camera monochrome (643nm) observation M144944945C, spacecraft orbit 6494, November 21, 2010; angle of incidence 56.45° at 62.25 meters resolution, from 44.54 km [NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University].

The Cobra Head of Aristarchus Plateau in full sunlight, from the Hubble Space Telescope in Earth orbit, a 2005 release, "part of a larger examination of the links between lunar albedo and the geologic composition of the Moon's surface." [NASA, ESA and J. Garvin (NASA/GSFC)]

Dynamics of an apparently unusual oblique LROC NAC observation, captured as LRO was in low lunar orbit sailing 41 km over a point (24.84°N, 314.84°), about 120 km east of the area in the opening image field of view. Slewed to the west, the twin LROC Narrow Angle Cameras simultaneously imaged the areas outlined in blue, on the highest elevations of the Aristarchus Plateau [Google Earth/NASA/GSFC/USGS/JAXA/ASU].

Related Posts:
Aristarchus Spectacular! (December 26, 2011)
Old Man River (of Lava) (July 5, 2011)
Secrets of Schröteri (December 2, 2010)
The Colorful Moon (July 24, 2010)
Aristarchus - Up from the Depths (July 20, 2010)
LOLA's Aristarchus Plateau (April 2, 2010)
LROC: The Cobra Head (January 20, 2010)
LRO captures Aristarchus rille (August 18, 2009)

One more, for the road, 2007 HDTV still from 100 km over Oceanus Procellarum shows Aristarchus Plateau at an oblique angle, with the Cobra Head at full resolution seen in the inset, from SELENE-1 (Kaguya) [JAXA/SELENE].