This image of the Taurus-Littrow valley shows the Apollo 17 landing site (the "+" symbol in the image). This region marks the last time – December 1972 – that humans walked and drove on the Moon's surface. Astronomers are using the Apollo 17 images (and those 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. Hubble's Advanced Camera for Surveys took the image on Aug. 16, 2005.
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 |
| Exposure Dates | August 16, 2005 |
| Filters | F250W (250nm), F344N (344nm), F502N (502nm), F658N (658nm) |
| 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. |
