Lunar surface explorer
Read the Moon's surface
A curated, phase-independent map of the near side. Zoom, pan and select named features — then use the phase note to plan when the shadows will be strongest.
Orientation
North is up and east is to the right in this schematic near-side projection.
Best phase
Craters look sharpest near the terminator. The full Moon favours bright ray systems.
Honest detail
Surface texture is illustrative. Positions and descriptions are curated from IAU and NASA data.
Tycho · Crater · details below
Drag to pan · North up · East right
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Selected feature
Tycho
Crater43.31°S · 11.36°W · 85 km
A young, sharply defined crater in the southern highlands. Its bright ejecta rays stretch across the near side and are most obvious under a high Sun.
Best phase
Full Moon for rays; first quarter for crater relief
IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature
About this map. The disc is an orthographic schematic of the Earth-facing hemisphere, not a photograph and not a current lunar image. Feature coordinates use selenographic latitude and longitude; the IAU convention puts east on the right as seen from Earth. Apollo hardware is far below the resolution of any Earth-based view, so landing sites are location markers, not visible objects. Imagery is intentionally generated rather than borrowed, avoiding unverified licenses.
Source: IAU Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature; NASA Apollo mission documentation. IAU planetary nomenclature.
Canonical URL: https://moonscan.com/explore