Posted on by Nancy Atkinson

Where In The Universe #130

Here’s this week’s Where In The Universe Challenge. Take a look and see if you can name where in the Universe this image is from. Give yourself extra points if you can name the spacecraft, telescope or instrument responsible for the image. We provide the image today, but won’t reveal the answer until tomorrow. This gives you a chance to mull over the image and provide your answer/guess in the comment section. And please, no links or extensive explanations of what you think this is — give everyone the chance to guess.

UPDATE: Answer now posted below!

This is the Moon, specifically the big rock in the middle is a close-up of a 320 meter block of ejecta in Tycho crater covered by a veneer of impact melt. The image was taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera earlier in 2010.

Tycho crater is one of the most visible features on the near side of the Moon, and its ray system extends far and wide. So much so that the Apollo 17 astronauts sampled its ejecta, over ,2000 km away from the crater! That is amazing!

See more images of Tycho and learn more at the LROC website.

14 Replies to “Where In The Universe #130”

  9. The Moon, near an Apollo landing site. Taken by the chinese lunar craft.

    Happy Christmas all at UT, Fraser for keeping it going (advertising aside it must be costly, there should be a a way for UT readers to donate) and a special thanks to Nancy for her engaging articles this year, and thanks to all the rest of the gang.

  14. By the very fine powdery appearance of the surface, and the very deep shadow, I’m inclined to think ‘no atmosphere’ is present. No Martian blueberries also inclines me to vote, it’s not Mars.
    On second thought, are we looking at a view that’s 3 feet wide, or is it more like 3 miles wide ? I was thinking 3 feet, which would account for the ‘fine dust’ assessment.
    However if it’s really a 3 mile wide view, that changes things !
    Scale in photos really is a problem !

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