A detailed topographic map of the Moon is created

An international team of scientists has completed work on creating the world's first complete map of the Moon, which covers its entire surface: from pole to pole, including light and dark sides. It will make possible to learn how the surface of the Earth's satellite was formed from the moment of creation up to the present.

While studying and analyzing the map, scientists can draw conclusions about internal structure of the Moon. Now experts are certain that there is very little water on the Moon.

Topographic map was created on the basis of the data received from the Japanese satellite SELENE, on which a laser LALT (Laser Altimeter) was set. Resolution of the map was 15 km.

To study the lunar surface, the laser has performed more than 6 million measurements and examined the entire surface of the Moon. It is important to note that all previous topographic maps of the earth satellite were made on the basis of all 270 000 measurements.

It was found out that the highest point is situated on the reverse side of the Moon and represents a mountain range formed by the edges of a huge crater. Moreover, its height reaches almost 11 km, which is three miles higher than previously assumed. The lowest point is the bottom of the crater Antoniadi, whose depth is just over 9 km.