PIA12225: Rays of Water and Hydroxyl
 Target Name:  Moon
 Is a satellite of:  Earth
 Mission:  Chandrayaan-1
 Spacecraft:  Chandrayaan-1
 Instrument:  Moon Mineralogy Mapper
 Product Size:  1260 x 780 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA12225.tif (2.952 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA12225.jpg (133.4 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

These images show a lunar crater on the side of the moon that faces away from Earth, as viewed by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper on the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft. On the left is an image showing infrared brightness. On the right, the abundance of water (light blue) and hydroxyl (red) is shown around a small crater. Hydroxyl-rich materials are seen as two rays emanating from the crater at the one and seven o'clock positions. Water-rich materials encircle the crater. Ray patterns such as those containing the hydroxyl usually indicate that materials have been excavated from below the surface. If so, it is possible that there are deposits of water- and hydroxyl-rich materials just below the surface of the moon.

Image Credit:
ISRO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/USGS/Brown Univ.

Image Addition Date:
2009-09-24