                        Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our
      fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation
                    written by a professional astronomer.

                              2025 February 22

                                Rima Hyginus
                Image Credit & Copyright: Vincenzo Mirabella

   Explanation: Rima Hyginus is a spectacular fissure, some 220 kilometers
   long, found near the center of the lunar near side. Easy to spot in
   telescopic views of the Moon, it stretches top left to bottom right
   across this lunar closeup. The image was made with exaggerated colors
   that reflect the mineral composition of the lunar soil. Hyginus crater
   lies near the center of the narrow lunar surface groove. About 10
   kilometers in diameter, the low-walled crater is a volcanic caldera,
   one of the larger non-impact craters on the lunar surface. Dotted with
   small pits formed by surface collapse, Hyginus rima itself was likely
   created by stresses due to internal magma upwelling and collapse along
   a long surface fault. The intriguing region was a candidate landing
   site for the canceled Apollo 19 mission.

                     Tomorrow's picture: northern Saturn
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
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