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Astronomy Image of the Day

North to the Moon's Pole

22 June 1996

Author not provided

NASA Astronomy Image of the Day for 22 June 1996

This image is from the voyage of the intrepid Galileo spacecraft as it passed above the Moon's north pole on its long journey to Jupiter. It was made over 60 years after Admiral Byrd became the first to fly over the Earth's north pole. Within a superposed frame of lattitude and longitude lines much of the Moon's familiar face, dominated by smooth dark mare, is brightly lit. Near the pole itself, the harsh shadows reveal a rugged, cratered lunarscape.

Image and explanation courtesy of NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day