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A view of Mare Humorum from SMART-1
This mosaic of three images, taken by the advanced Moon Imaging Experiment (AMIE)on board ESA's SMART-1 spacecraft, shows Mare Humorum on the Moon.
AMIE obtained the top frame on 1 January 2006, from a distance of 1087 kilometres from the surface, with a ground resolution of 98 metres per pixel. The remaining two frames were taken on 13 January 2006, from a distance of about 1069 (centre)
and 1050 kilometres (bottom) from the surface, with a ground resolution of 97 and 95 metres per pixel, respectively. The separate images can be downloaded here:
AMI_EAE3_001775_00010_00020.JPG
;
AMI_EAE3_001775_00009_00020.JPG
;
AMI_EAE3_001775_00008_00020.JPG;
The area shown in the top image is centred at a latitude of 40.2º South and longitude 25.9º West; the centre image is centred at a latitude of 40.2º South and longitude 27.3º West; the bottom image is centred at a latitude of 40.2º South and longitude 28.8º West.
Mare Humorum, or 'Sea of Moisture', is a small circular mare on the lunar nearside, about 825 kilometres across, filled with a thick layer of mare basalt, (possibly exceeding 3 kilometres in thickness at the centre of
the basin). Mare Humorum is a scientifically interesting area because it allows the study of the relationships among lunar mare filling, mare basin tectonics, and global thermal evolution to the major mascon maria – that are regions
of the moon's crust which contain a large amount of material denser than average for that area.
