月球勘测轨道器的自转月亮

月球勘测轨道器的自转月亮

Rotating Moon from LRO
Video Credit: NASA, LRO, Arizona State U.

Explanation: No one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this. That’s because the Earth’s moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us only one side. Given modern digital technology, however, combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high resolution virtual Moon rotation movie has been composed. The featured time-lapse video starts with the standard Earth view of the Moon. Quickly, though, Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotates into view just below the equator. From an entire lunar month condensed into 24 seconds, the video clearly shows that the Earth side of the Moon contains an abundance of dark lunar maria, while the lunar far side is dominated by bright lunar highlands. Currently, over 32 new missions to the Moon are under active development from multiple countries and companies, including NASA’s Artemis program which aims to land people on the Moon again within the next few years.

Tomorrow’s picture: island universe

月球勘测轨道器的自转月亮
影片提供: NASA, LRO, Arizona State U.

说明: 目前没人能看到月亮发生这样的自转。这是因为月亮是受到地球的潮汐锁定，只能以同一面朝着我们。不过用现代的数位技术，再加上月球勘测轨道器（LRO）回传的许多细致的影像，得以建构出这部虚拟的高解析月球自转电影。上面这部延时影片开头时，所看到的是标准的地球观月视角。不过很快的，东方海这个拥有黝黑中心区、在地球很难见到的大撞击坑，就从赤道下方旋入视野。这部把月亮完整自转周期浓缩成24秒的影片，清楚呈现月球朝着地球的正面上，散布着大量的黝黑月海，而月球的反面则主要是明亮的月面高原。在目前，有多个国家正积极发展超过32个新的探月任务，其中包括美国航空航天局预定在数年内，再次把人类送上月表的阿尔忒弥斯计划。

明日的图片: island universe

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