PIA13095: Central Peak of Copernicus Crater


Central Peak of Copernicus Crater

Caption:

Today's LROC NAC image (M102293451) is a close up of the 93-km (58 miles) diameter Copernicus crater showing light-toned fractured bedrock exposed on the higher slopes on the central structural uplift. The bedrock observed in this NAC frame appears to be somewhat intact, and not a breccia (i.e., a rock consisting of a jumble of randomly oriented rock fragments). It is only slightly brecciated (or fragmented), which is consistent with the manner in which crater central peak rocks are uplifted and exposed. This location gives us a glimpse of bedrock that was protected beneath the surface until exposed by the Copernicus impact event and later landslides. Dark materials appear to fill fractures in this outcrop that may be highly shocked materials (e.g., impact melt or breccias) that were injected into the rock during the formation of Copernicus.

Background Info:

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center built and manages the mission for the Exploration Systems Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera was designed to acquire data for landing site certification and to conduct polar illumination studies and global mapping. Operated by Arizona State University, LROC consists of a pair of narrow-angle cameras (NAC) and a single wide-angle camera (WAC). The mission is expected to return over 70 terabytes of image data.

Cataloging Keywords:

Name Value Additional Values
Target Moon
System Earth
Target Type Satellite
Mission Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)
Instrument Host Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Host Type Orbiter
Instrument Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (NAC)
Detector Narrow Angle Camera (NAC), Wide Angle Camera (WAC)
Extra Keywords Crater, Grayscale, Impact
Acquisition Date
Release Date 2010-05-05
Date in Caption
Image Credit NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University
Source photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA13095
Identifier PIA13095