Ancient Volcanic Vent Near the Moon’s Plato Crater

Western Plato crater (at right) and the geologically complex region west of its rim, including an ancient volcanic vent, as seen by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.

A dark floor makes 63-mile-wide (101-kilometer-wide) Plato crater stand out against a light-colored lunar highlands background. Plato crater is also prominent by association; the crater is located just north of Mare Imbrium. A small part of this mare is visible at lower left in this image.

This view is part of a controlled and corrected mosaic made up of Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC) Narrow Angle Camera (NAC) images. The late afternoon Sun casts long shadows, accentuating surface relief. The image shows an area about 35 miles (57 kilometers) across.

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