Backpacker – August 2019

PHOTO BY TK

JULY/AUGUST 2019
96 BACKPACKER.COM

tk caption

SILENCE

A N D THE

UNIVERSE

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Mooned

Stars shine brightest on a

moonless night. But there’s

still plenty to see if your trip

coincides with a lunar show.

1. Mare Imbrium
   Forming the right eye of
   the Man in the Moon, this
   remnant basaltic lava fi eld is
   712 miles across (the distance
   from Chicago to New York).
   Apollo 15 touched down here
   in 1971.


2. Oceanus Procellarum
   Nearly twice the size of the
   Gulf of Mexico, the lunar
   “ocean” Procellarum covers
   roughly 10.5 percent of the
   moon’s total surface area.
   3. Mons Huygens
   Like the Kilimanjaro of the
   moon, Mons Huygens rises
   18,000 feet and is the tallest
   peak on its surface.
   4. Tycho
   The moon’s most recogniz-
   able pockmark was made by
   an asteroid 108 million years
   ago. The impact created a
   15,000-foot-deep indent and
   scattered moon dust into
   930-mile-long streaks.
   5. Shroeter’s Valley
   The largest lunar canyon on
   this side of the moon is 100
   miles long, up to 6 miles wide,
   and deeper than Yosemite
   Va l le y.

The Sangre de Cristo

Range rises above the

dunefi eld to the east.

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