What's going on in this snapshot from the ISS?

[1oldman2]

Wow , all those alien landing strips on the back of the moon. I wonder why they are not parallel to the lunar equator. Maybe if we project them back we can work out what star system they come from ! ARF !

Seriously, do we have any higher-res of the dark-side? 4Mpixels from a million miles away does not even cut it for holiday snaps.
It would be interesting to see whether that black spot is a major crater and to get a better look at the 'skid-marks'. There's a strong central line on that image that lies on a great circle and runs trough a crater. If that is impact debris it's curious that it makes such a straight line. It would be good to get a better look.

Anyone know a better images? Have they not released Apollo stuff of dark side yet?

http://nasasearch.nasa.gov/search?u...Lunar+high+rez+images+dark+side&commit=Search
Looks like a good bet but you will need to go through a few pics.

 

[Drakkith]

Anyone know a better images? Have they not released Apollo stuff of dark side yet?

You can find pre-apollo images here: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunarorbiter/

Here's an archive of images from the Lunar Reconnaiscance Orbiter: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/LROMoonImages_archive_1.html
The images are detailed enough to see features at several Apollo landing sites, including the Apollo descent stages, various equipment, and tracks in the regolith left by the astronauts (Apollo 15 site here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/L...lroc-20100413-apollo15-LRRR.html#.VrhUP1grKUk)

It would be interesting to see whether that black spot is a major crater and to get a better look at the 'skid-marks'.

What 'skid-marks'?

 

[fizzy]

Looks like an image artifact. I can see plenty of them in your animation. Spacecraft imaging sensors typically have very large amounts of noise and artifacts since they don't sit within the protection of the Earth's atmosphere.

I think the dark spot is real, the size change may be lighting or exposure. The grey scale does not look very consistent, neither does the focal plane. One frame is more focussed on the spot , the other is more focussed on the central region.

 

[1oldman2]

Here's an archive of images from the Lunar Reconnaiscance Orbiter: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/LROMoonImages_archive_1.html
The images are detailed enough to see features at several Apollo landing sites, including the Apollo descent stages, various equipment, and tracks in the regolith left by the astronauts (Apollo 15 site here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/L...lroc-20100413-apollo15-LRRR.html#.VrhUP1grKUk)

The LRO imaging is very impressive, Also if you switch Google Earth to moon view it give a pretty good view, although some of it isn't very high resolution.

 

[fizzy]

You can find pre-apollo images here: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/resources/lunarorbiter/

Here's an archive of images from the Lunar Reconnaiscance Orbiter: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/multimedia/lroimages/LROMoonImages_archive_1.html
The images are detailed enough to see features at several Apollo landing sites, including the Apollo descent stages, various equipment, and tracks in the regolith left by the astronauts (Apollo 15 site here: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/L...lroc-20100413-apollo15-LRRR.html#.VrhUP1grKUk)
What 'skid-marks'?

Thanks, here is a comparable shot of far side. The dark spot seems to be a crater. so size change likely to be change in shadow.
http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/528087main_031110a.jpg

There are definite lines on the DISCVR images that cover most of the visible surface. Oddly they are a lot less evident on the high res image.

BTW the lighting is not consistent on the left and right sides of that image, are these composites?

Ah yes:
"105-km swath in monochrome mode"
"Each month, the WAC provides nearly complete coverage of the Moon under unique lighting."

 

[davenn]

I think the dark spot is real, the

Nobody suggested otherwise ... pretty sure when Drakkith referred to artifact, he would have been referring to it's changing shape/size

Thanks, here is a comparable shot of far side. The dark spot seems to be a crater. so size change likely to be change in shadow

or more correctly a Mare ( sea) ... a lava filled basinDave

 

[fizzy]

I said : "what's that black spot getting bigger on the dark side of the moon, that's going cause some fun. "
Drakkith said : "Looks like an image artifact. I can see plenty of them in your animation."
I said : "The dark spot seems to be a crater. so size change likely to be change in shadow."

so it's not an artefact.

"or more correctly a Mare ( sea) ... a lava filled basin"

Oh, right. A sort of round , crater shaped basin. Presumably the alien lava managers decided it looked a bit too empty and decided to fill it up in case anyone noticed it looked a bit like an impact event that ruptured the surface causing lava to flow out. They were noted as having said there were too many such events and exclaimed " j'en ai mare !" Hence the name.

 

[Drakkith]

so it's not an artefact.

Not the large dark spot, no. I was referring to the change in size/shape. Sorry for the confusion.

Oh, right. A sort of round , crater shaped basin. Presumably the alien lava managers decided it looked a bit too empty and decided to fill it up in case anyone noticed it looked a bit like an impact event that ruptured the surface causing lava to flow out. They were noted as having said there were too many such events and exclaimed " j'en ai mare !" Hence the name.

Not sure what this is about. Mare Moscoviense is indeed a lava-filled impact crater. See here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mare_Moscoviense

 

[fizzy]

3rd try: I said: "The dark spot seems to be a crater. so size change likely to be change in shadow"

From the positions in the two frame animation, the reduction in size ( see Earth pos. for which is first chronologically ) seems consistent with the size of the shadow reducing as it comes nearer to facing the sun. ie change in size of shadow not an artefact.

 

[Drakkith]

3rd try: I said: "The dark spot seems to be a crater. so size change likely to be change in shadow"

From the positions in the two frame animation, the reduction in size ( see Earth pos. for which is first chronologically ) seems consistent with the size of the shadow reducing as it comes nearer to facing the sun. ie change in size of shadow not an artefact.

That seems unlikely to me. The moon only rotates a little over 2.5 degrees in 5 hours. I don't think the shadows would change that much over such a small change in orientation. Honestly it just looks like image artifacts. The animation is rife with them.

 

[davenn]

That seems unlikely to me. The moon only rotates a little over 2.5 degrees in 5 hours. I don't think the shadows would change that much over such a small change in orientation. Honestly it just looks like image artifacts. The animation is rife with them.

Completely agree