Multimedia Gallery
Enhanced image of the moon
This enhanced image of the moon was taken with the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO) Mosaic CCD camera using two of the National Science Foundation's (NSF's) telescopes located at Kitt Peak National Observatory (KPNO). KPNO is located on Kitt Peak, a 2,089-meter mountain 90 kilometers southwest of Tucson, Ariz.
The image of the moon itself was taken through the U-band filter at the 0.9-meter telescope. It is superimposed on a deep R-band image of the background sky taken at the 4-meter Mayall Telescope. This composite image demonstrates the large field of view of the 0.9-meter telescope when using Mosaic, a view that covers more than five times the area of the moon. It furnishes this large field of view without sacrificing high resolution, and details as small as a few kilometers across can be seen on the lunar surface.
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KPNO is one of several observatories that make up the National Optical Astronomy Observatories (NOAO), a national center for research in ground-based optical and infrared astronomy, supported by NSF.
Credit: T.A. Rector, I.P. Dell 'Antonio/NOAO/AURA/NSF
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