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image without text.)
Two of the most striking features in this image are the crater Plato
(100km in diameter) and Mt. Pico, one of the "teeth." Mt. Pico and its
smaller neighbor (the smaller mountain above it) always remind me of teeth
when I observe them. Note the somewhat irregular shadow that Mt. Pico casts,
as well as the shadows inside Plato. Even though no structure in Plato's
eastern rim is visible, its shape can be inferred from the shadows. Plato
is bordered by two lunar "seas", the vast Mare Imbrium to the south (up)
and smaller Mare Frigoris to the north. The smallest craters
visible in Mare Imbrium are about 5km (3 miles) wide. East of Plato is
Vallis Alpes, a rille (valley) roughly 150 kilometers long. It looks
like a white diagonal line in this image. The mountain range it's imbedded
in is named after the Alps on Earth. Its possible Vallis Alpes was caused
by the lunar crust sinking between two faults or fractures. Continuing
in a line from Plato to Vallis Alpes, we come to the crater Cassini (56km).
On this image it appears as a faint, outlined circle with two smaller craters inside it.