Moon Mineralogy Mapper image, showing the mineral composition of the Moon's Earth-facing surface. The image was obtained by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Map

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Moon Mineralogy Mapper image, showing the mineral composition of the Moon's Earth-facing surface. The image was obtained by NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument, detecting reflected near-infrared radiation from the Sun. The materials detected include small amounts of water and hydroxyl (blue) near the poles. Green shows the brightness of the surface. The orange areas show the presence of an iron-bearing mineral called pyroxene. The M3 is part of the Indian Space Research Organization's Chandrayaan-1 mission to the Moon. This image was first published in September 2009.

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Size: 4193px × 4193px
Photo credit: © ISRO/NASA/JPL-CALTECH/BROWN UNIV/USGS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: -infrared, 1, 2009, 21st, astronomical, astronomy, century, chandrayaan, chandrayaan-1, composition, geological, geology, hydroxyl, ice, image, indian, infrared, ir, lunar, m3, map, mapper, mineral, mineralogy, minerals, mmm, moon, nasa, organization, planetary, polar, poles, probe, pyroxene, research, satellite, science, selenology, september, solar, space, surface, system, water