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Monday, November 23, 2009

Photo: Gas Eruptions Likely Formed "New" Moon Features, Study Says


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This false-color composite image shows that the dirt on the lunar feature Ina is relatively young, even though its surface is not marked by many impact craters. Titanium basalts (blue) are exposed on the floor of the Ina structure and in the "fresh" impact crater at left. Patches of less mature dirt (green) also dot Ina's surface.

A new study suggests that the feature might have been formed by relatively recent eruptions of gas from deep inside the moon.

Image courtesy Peter H. Schultz