False-colour map of the Moon's northern hemisphere showing surface soil compositions. The Earth- facing side of the Moon is at left. In this image, pi

---

False-colour map of the Moon's northern hemisphere showing surface soil compositions. The Earth- facing side of the Moon is at left. In this image, pink areas are upland formations, such as the ring around the Mare Crisium impact basin at bottom centre. Dark blue areas are titanium-rich basalts, the largest of these is Mare Tranquilitatis at bottom left. The orange colours are titanium-poor basalts. Pale blue colours represent thin, mineral rich soils from relatively recent impacts. The data for this image were gathered by the Galileo spacecraft on 7 December 1992 during its second gravity-assist fly-by of Earth. Galileo's final destination is the planet Jupiter.

---

Size: 2965px × 3555px
Photo credit: © NASA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: astronomy, composition, cosmology, false-coloured, galileo, geology, imagery, lunar, map, mineral, moon, planetary, rock, science, soil, surface, type, types