NASA shares fascinating image of Moon made out of series of 53 images; Watch it here

NASA’s social media followers are growing day by day, no doubt it is a result of the fascinating content that they keep sharing on all on its social platforms. NASA’s latest post shared on Thursday, August 5, has also gained many eyeballs, in the post the top space research organization has shared a picture of the moon, combining 53 different images.

NASA shares a fascinating image made out of  a series of 53 images

The latest image shows the northern region of the Moon, which has been combined by using 53 different images and shows a false colour. The most enthralling part about the picture is that it was captured by a 3 decades old spacecraft, that is the Galileo spacecraft which was sent to Jupiter in December 1992. The spacecraft took the picture while on its way to Jupiter. 

Along with the eye-catching picture, NASA described it in the caption that read, “Our Galileo spacecraft took this false-colour mosaic, constructed from a series of 53 images, as the spacecraft zoomed over the northern regions of our Moon on December 7, 1992. The spacecraft was on its way to Jupiter.”

“The mosaic helps us see variations in parts of the Moon's northern hemisphere. Bright pinkish areas are the lunar highlands, including the ones surrounding the oval lava-filled Crisium impact basin toward the bottom of the picture. Blue-to-orange shades indicate ancient volcanic lava flows. To the left of Crisium is the dark blue Mare Tranquillitatis, where Apollo 11 landed. It’s richer in titanium than the green and orange areas above it. Thin mineral-rich soils associated with a relatively recent meteorite or asteroid impacts are represented by light blue colours; the youngest craters have prominent blue rays extending from them.”

Further describing it, NASA added, “The Galileo probe, named for the Italian astronomer who discovered Jupiter’s four largest moons, orbited the gas giant from 1995 to 2003. Its camera and nine other instruments helped scientists make numerous discoveries, including one that indicates the planet's icy moon Europa likely has a subsurface ocean. Galileo's successor mission, Juno, is currently exploring the Jovian giant to help us understand the origins of our solar system”.

The post has garnered thousands of likes and users have also dropped various comments on it. While a user wrote, “Magnifico,” another said, “Ooh Nasa … You keep giving us these beautiful universal sights ... I cannot go ‘Woah' enough,”

Image: NASA