South Pole–Aitken basin
The South Pole–Aitken basin is a huge impact crater on the far side of Earth's Moon. Roughly 2,500 kilometres (1,600 mi) in diameter and 13 kilometres (8.1 mi) deep, it is one of the largest known impact craters in the Solar System. It is the largest, oldest and deepest basin on the Moon.[1] The formation of the large lunar basins occurred before 3.8 billion years ago.[1]
This moon basin was named after two features on opposing sides; the crater Aitken on the northern end and the southern lunar pole at the other end.
South Pole–Aitken Basin Media
Apollo 8 photograph showing the mountains along the northern rim of the basin
The South Pole–Aitken basin is the darker area at the bottom of this image of the far side of the Moon.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Petro, Noah E.; Pieters, Carle M. (2004), "Surviving the heavy bombardment: ancient material at the surface of South Pole-Aitken Basin" (PDF), Journal of Geophysical Research, 109, doi:10.1029/2003JE002182, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-02-15, retrieved 2013-01-11