Dark, smooth regions that cover the Moon's familiar face [
http://www.lindahal…exhibits/moon/fronti sp.htm ] are called by Latin names for oceans and seas. The naming [
http://en.wikipedia…Selenography#Mapping _and_naming_the_Moon ] convention is historical [
http://www.inconsta…], though it may seem a little ironic to denizens of the space age who recognize the Moon as a mostly [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] dry and airless world, and the smooth, dark areas as lava-flooded impact basins [
http://volcano.und.…Overview.html ]. For example, this elegant lunar vista, a careful mosaic [
http://www.avertedi…iridium_100407.html ] of telescopic images, looks across the expanse of the northwestern Mare Imbrium [
http://www.lunarrep…b2.shtml ], or Sea of Rains, into the Sinus Iridum - the Bay of Rainbows. Ringed by the Jura Mountains (montes), the bay is about 250 kilometers across, bounded at the bottom of the rugged arc by Cape (promontorium [
http://www.stargazi…atlaspromontorium.ht ml ]) Laplace. The cape's sunlit face towers nearly 3,000 meters above the bay's surface. At the top of the arc is Cape Heraclides, at times seen as a moon maiden [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.go v/apod/ap080208.html '; digg_skin = 'compact';
Explanation
Dark, smooth regions that cover the Moon's familiar face [
http://www.lindahal…exhibits/moon/fronti sp.htm ] are called by Latin names for oceans and seas. The naming [
http://en.wikipedia…Selenography#Mapping _and_naming_the_Moon ] convention is historical [
http://www.inconsta…], though it may seem a little ironic to denizens of the space age who recognize the Moon as a mostly [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…] dry and airless world, and the smooth, dark areas as lava-flooded impact basins [
http://volcano.und.…Overview.html ]. For example, this elegant lunar vista, a careful mosaic [
http://www.avertedi…iridium_100407.html ] of telescopic images, looks across the expanse of the northwestern Mare Imbrium [
http://www.lunarrep…b2.shtml ], or Sea of Rains, into the Sinus Iridum - the Bay of Rainbows. Ringed by the Jura Mountains (montes), the bay is about 250 kilometers across, bounded at the bottom of the rugged arc by Cape (promontorium [
http://www.stargazi…atlaspromontorium.ht ml ]) Laplace. The cape's sunlit face towers nearly 3,000 meters above the bay's surface. At the top of the arc is Cape Heraclides, at times seen as a moon maiden [
http://antwrp.gsfc.…].
digg_url = 'http://apod.nasa.go v/apod/ap080208.html '; digg_skin = 'compact';
Explanation
