This image of the (almost) full moon was taken from the Murchison
Radio-astronomy Observatory in Western Australia.
The moon's features are clearly seen: the dark patches were
once thought to be oceans, and retain their original names,
so that the isolated region on the left hand side above is
the Mare Crisium (Sea of Crisis), with the three, larger, connected
regions next to it being, from top to bottom, the
Mare Fecunditatis (Sea of Fertility),
Mare Tranquillitatis (Sea of Tranquility), and
Mare Serenitatis (Sea of Serenity).
The Tycho crater is prominent at top right, with a number of
lighter features (ejecta from the impact that caused the crater)
radiating from it.
The Copernicus crater is the brightest spot in the "seas"
at the bottom right of the image.
Both craters are among those named by Giovanni Riccioli,
whose 1651 nomenclature system has been adopted by astronomers worldwide.
