This image showcases Hubble Space Telescope's first high-resolution ultraviolet and visible imaging of the Apollo 17 landing region within the Taurus-Littrow valley of the Moon. Humans last walked and drove on the lunar surface in this region (marked "+" in the image at left and at lower right) in December 1972.
The image at upper right was taken by the Apollo 17 astronauts (Dr. H. Jack Schmitt and Gene Cernan). It illustrates a view of the rim of Shorty crater and the lunar roving vehicle against a backdrop of the mountain-like massifs that define the Taurus-Littrow valley. The Hubble Space Telescope image at lower right was constructed by overlaying the Hubble image (at left) with a digital-terrain model acquired by the Apollo program to provide a perspective view looking from west to east up the valley. These Hubble data illustrate the high-resolution resolving power of the Advanced Camera for Surveys and display features smaller than a soccer field from low-Earth orbit some 248,000 miles (400,000 kilometers) distant. These images were acquired at nearly full Moon, so the long, dark shadows typical of many lunar orbital photos are not seen; however, this is perfect lighting for color analysis from which to interpret subtle compositional differences.
The Hubble Space Telescope Lunar Exploration team is using the Apollo 17 images (and those acquired of the Apollo 15 site) as "ground-truth" in an effort to discriminate lunar materials enriched in ilmenite, a titanium-bearing oxide of potential value as a resource in human exploration of the Moon.
The images at left and at lower right were taken Aug. 16, 2005 by Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys. North is at the top in these images.
Images were processed by the Hubble Space Telescope Lunar Exploration team at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Northwestern University, and the Space Telescope Science Institute.
Credits
NASA, ESA, and J. Garvin (NASA/GSFC)| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | moon |
| Object Description | Earth's Satellite |
| Distance | The Moon is 238,857 miles (384,403 kilometers) from the Earth. |
| Dimensions | The Moon has a diameter of 2160 miles (3476 kilometers). |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description | These HST data are from proposal . NASA's HST Lunar observation team is led by Chief Scientist J. Garvin. The team includes M. Robinson (Northwestern Univ.), D. Skillman (NASA/GSFC), B. Hapke (Univ. of Pittsburgh), C. Pieters (Brown Univ.), M. Ulmer (Northwestern Univ.), J. Bell (Cornell Univ.), and J. Taylor (Univ. of Hawaii). |
| Instrument | HST>ACS/HRC (left and bottom right), and Apollo 17 (top right) |
| Exposure Dates | August 16, 2005 (HST), and December 1972 (Apollo 17) |
| Filters | HST: F250W (250nm), F344N (344nm), F502N (502nm), F658N (658nm) |
| About The Image | |
| Compass Image |  |
| About The Object | |
|---|---|
| Object Name | A name or catalog number that astronomers use to identify an astronomical object. |
| Object Description | The type of astronomical object. |
| R.A. Position | Right ascension – analogous to longitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Dec. Position | Declination – analogous to latitude – is one component of an object's position. |
| Constellation | One of 88 recognized regions of the celestial sphere in which the object appears. |
| Distance | The physical distance from Earth to the astronomical object. Distances within our solar system are usually measured in Astronomical Units (AU). Distances between stars are usually measured in light-years. Interstellar distances can also be measured in parsecs. |
| Dimensions | The physical size of the object or the apparent angle it subtends on the sky. |
| About The Data | |
| Data Description |
|
| Instrument | The science instrument used to produce the data. |
| Exposure Dates | The date(s) that the telescope made its observations and the total exposure time. |
| Filters | The camera filters that were used in the science observations. |
| About The Image | |
| Image Credit | The primary individuals and institutions responsible for the content. |
| Publication Date | The date and time the release content became public. |
| Color Info | A brief description of the methods used to convert telescope data into the color image being presented. |
| Orientation | The rotation of the image on the sky with respect to the north pole of the celestial sphere. |
