This movie was created from radar images collected using a transmitter at the Arecibo Observatory (AO) in Puerto Rico and receivers at the Green Bank Telescope (GBT). Radar maps can look like photos, but they represent the amount of energy reflected back toward the transmitter by features on the Moon’s surface. The radar penetrates 10 meters or more into the very dry lunar surface, revealing variations in the abundance of rocks larger than about 10 cm across and seeing differences in the chemistry of rocks that form the Moon’s crust. The movie begins with a view of the north pole of the Moon – the center of the side we can see from Earth is at top. The rotation carries us around the visible edge of the Moon, past the south pole, the giant Orientale basin, and back to the north pole.
