Eroded Structures In Jacobi Crater: A Window On The Past

MOON DAILY

This high-resolution image, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows part of crater Jacobi in the southern hemisphere of the Moon. The rim of the crater is seen on the upper edge of the image.

by Staff Writers
Paris, France (SPX) Aug 15, 2006
This high-resolution image, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE) on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows part of crater Jacobi in the southern hemisphere of the Moon. The rim of the crater is seen on the upper edge of the image.

AMIE obtained this sequence on 18 March 2006 from a distance of about 578 kilometres from the surface, with a ground resolution of 52 metres per pixel. The imaged area is centred at a latitude of 56.5 South and a longitude of 10.9 East, with a field of view of 27 km. North is at the right of the image.

The crater Jacobi itself is much larger than this image - about 70 kilometres in diameter - whereas this image only shows an area of about 25 square kilometres. The single prominent crater to the upper right of the image centre is 'Jacobi W', with a diameter of only 7 kilometres. It is possible to note the peculiar surface structure in the upper left area of the image, indicating several heavily eroded kilometre-sized craters having roughly the same size.

"SMART-1 resolution at high solar elevation angle allows us to detect eroded structures buried under more recent layers" says SMART-1 Project scientist Bernard Foing, "giving another window on the past evolution of the Moon".

This area is named after the German mathematician Carl Jacobi (1804 - 1851), who worked on elliptic functions and was active in the field of celestial mechanics.

Email This Article

MOON DAILY

NASA Says Original Moon Landing Video Maybe Lost

Washington (UPI) Aug 14, 2006
NASA says the original film depicting Neil Armstrong taking his "giant leap for mankind" on the moon has been lost.

SPACE TRAVEL Pioneering Astrophysicist James Van Allen Dies Space Travel Will Take Off In Five Years Ex-Microsoft Whizz-Kid Passes Space Flight Medical Space Missions Become More Challenging	MARSDAILY AMASEing Mars Volunteers Sought For Four-Month Arctic Mars Mission Simulation Digging Deep: An Interview With Chris Mckay Applicants From 16 Countries Seek To Join Simulated Mars Flight
NUCLEAR SPACE Could NASA Get To Pluto Faster? Space Expert Says Yes - By Thinking Nuclear NASA plans to send new robot to Jupiter Los Alamos Hopes To Lead New Era Of Nuclear Space Tranportion With Jovian Mission Boeing Selects Leader for Nuclear Space Systems Program	EXO WORLDS Astronomers Discover Twin Planemos Three-Telescope Interferometer Shows Patchy Red Giants Common Fate Of Sun-Like Stars Ultraviolet Stripping Creates Super Earth Sized Planets FUSE Finds Young Solar System Awash In Carbon
NANO TECH Purdue Engineers Lay Groundwork For Vertically Oriented Nanoelectronics Nano Helps Keep Cells Alive Blueprint For Nanotechnology Risk Profile Proposed Sharply Tuned Nanostrings Work at Room Temperature	SPACE MEDICINE A Lack Of Gravity Can Make Us Dangerously Lightweight NASA Modifies Image Technology To Fight Diabetes NASA To Orbit Fruit Flies To Test Immune System Researchers Make Progress With Robotic Telesurgery
LAUNCH PAD Ariane 5 Is In The Launch Zone With JCSAT-10 And Syracuse 3B Russia To Launch European Weather Probe In October ATK Receives $90M To Supply Motors For Missile Defense And Satellite Launch Vehicles Second Ariane 5 ECA Launch Campaign Is Underway At The Spaceport	ROCKET SCIENCE SpaceDev Awarded Patent For Hybrid Propulsion Technology Scrap The Stick Now Purdue Research Helps Advance New Rocket Technology Astana Assesses Damage From Missile Breakdown In Many Millions

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2006 - SpaceDaily.AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA PortalReports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additionalcopyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement