Fact Sheet
Lunar Target
The impact feature known as Mare Orientale (Eastern Sea) forms a prominent bullseye at left center, along the line between day and night, in this 1960s image from a Lunar Orbiter probe. It formed when a large asteroid slammed into the Moon almost four billion years ago. The dark area at center is paved with volcanic rock, while the bright rings are mountains formed as the shockwave of the impact rippled outward, piling up the crust. The images looks "stripey" because it was compiled from strips of film exposed by the orbiter. [NASA/JPL/LPI]
|