Illumination at the Moon's South Pole, 2023 to 2030

The path of the Sun in the lunar sky is shown at four latitudes, including the South Pole. An arrow points toward the Sun. Annotations include the subsolar longitude and the elapsed time in Earth days. || On both the Earth and the Moon, the apparent path of the Sun in the sky during the day depends on the observer s rays in a view from Earth, as well as the elapsed time in Earth days.

An overhead view of Schrödinger basin showing both the inner peak ring and outer rim. The view is centered on 75 from a distance of 2 Moon radii. || Schrödinger basin is a large impact feature on the far side of the Moon, near the lunar South Pole. This visualization shows the cycle of sunlight and shadow over six lunar days from October 2024 through March 2025. || A detailed view of the interior of Schrödinger basin bordered by the inner peak ring. The view is centered on 75 from a distance of 2 Moon radii.

2025: Sunlight and shadow within 10 degrees of the lunar South Pole, rendered at two-hour intervals for a year. || The visualizations on this page simulate the lighting at the South Pole of the Moon in the years 2025 to 2028 at two-hour intervals, a total of 17,532 time steps or frames. The field of view encompasses the area south of 80 south latitude.Global terrain mapping by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter s laser altimeter, LOLA, makes it possible to simulate sunlight and shadow on the Moon at any date in the past or future. This will be vital for planning exploration of the lunar South Pole, where the low Sun angle and rugged terrain produce a uniquely challenging lighting environment. || 2026: Sunlight and shadow within 10 degrees of the lunar South Pole, rendered at two-hour intervals for a year. || 2027: Sunlight and shadow within 10 degrees of the lunar South Pole, rendered at two-hour intervals for a year. || 2028: Sunlight and shadow within 10 degrees of the lunar South Pole, rendered at two-hour intervals for a year.

This video shows the movement of shadows near the Moon s poles, the Sun is always near the horizon, and the shadows are perpetually long, sweeping across the surface with the changing solar azimuth. || Music Only version (no narration).Music Provided by Universal Production Music: “Two Horizons” – Anthony d’Amario || Visualization with icons. No audio. || Visualization only (No audio, no icons)

Beginning on the near side of the Moon, with the Apollo sites marked, the view quickly moves to the South Pole and zooms in to show the changing illumination conditions there for an entire year. || The Apollo program landed six pairs of astronauts on the Moon between 1969 and 1972. All six landing sites are at low latitudes, near the equator. In this visualization, the Apollo sites are contrasted with the South Pole, an area with enormous potential for future exploration. Time passes as we zoom toward Shackleton crater at the South Pole, revealing illumination conditions quite different from those near the equator. While many craters remain in permanent shadow, some nearby mountains and ridges are in persistent sunshine, making them attractive candidates for solar power and long-term habitation.The remaining visualizations on this page show the illumination at the lunar South Pole throughout 2024, at several different scales. The year begins in the middle of South Pole summer, with the subsolar latitude near its greatest southern extent. As the year progresses, the shadows begin to deepen until mid-year and South Pole winter, when the subsolar latitude is at its northern extreme. The full range of the Sun re permanently shadowed. Conversely, a small number of high spots on mountains and crater rims are in persistent sunshine. These were made by integrating (adding together) the frames of the above visualizations.

Beginning with a full-frame Moon, the camera flies to the lunar south pole and shows areas of permanent shadow. Realistic shadows evolve through several months. || The Moon s tilt relative to the Sun is only 1.6, not enough to get sunlight into some deep craters near the lunar north and south poles. PSRs are therefore some of the coldest, darkest places in the solar system.Because of that, PSRs are expected to be excellent traps for volatiles, chemicals that would normally vaporize and escape into space, and this includes water. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) includes several instruments designed to peer into the PSR darkness and measure temperature, reflectivity, and neutron absorption, all of which are clues to what chemicals might be hiding there. This animation shows where the PSRs are and in what ways LRO can see inside them. || The same push-in to the south pole as the previous, without the permanent shadow overlay. || Demonstration of the differing obliquity (tilt) of the Earth and Moon. Zooms quickly on the Moon as it emerges from behind the Earth. || A close flyover of south pole terrain. Elevation contours light up, and as we arrive at Shackleton crater, elevation color coding lights up inside it and in other permanently shadowed regions. Finally, the view pans up into the sky, revealing a rich starfield. || Three different datasets are overlaid on the south pole. For each, the full dataset fades to a version masked by the permanent shadow map. The datasets are from LAMP (lyman alpha albedo), Diviner (daytime temperature), and LEND (hydrogen).