Planets and Moons ID: 4468

Lunar Swirls: Reiner Gamma

Visualizations by Ernie Wright Released on March 27, 2017

Lunar swirls are bright, often sinuous features with the diffuse appearance of abstract airbrush paintings. They are unique to the Moon and have long defied easy explanation. Five papers recently published in Icarus (1, 2, 3), JGR: Space Physics (4), and JGR: Planets (5) use a combination of computer modeling and the data gathered by Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and other recent lunar missions to shed new light on the origin of these unusual surface decorations.

Reiner Gamma, a bright patch amid the otherwise dark Oceanus Procellarum mare, is perhaps the most spectacular example of a lunar swirl. Through backyard telescopes near full Moon, it looks like a small figure-8 on its side. LRO's view from orbit reveals tendrils and daughter swirls that extend for several hundred kilometers.

The animation zooms up on an LRO wide-angle camera mosaic of Reiner Gamma, then tilts the view to show that this large swirl is entirely two-dimensional — it's not a mountain range or a valley, but instead looks painted onto the surface. The narrated videos are available in both English and Spanish.

Used Elsewhere In

For More Information

NASA Research Gives New Insights into How the Moon Got 'Inked'

Visualization Credits

Ernie Wright (USRA):
Lead Visualizer

Laurence Schuler (ADNET Systems, Inc.):
Technical Support

Ian Jones (ADNET Systems, Inc.):
Technical Support

Noah Petro (NASA/GSFC):
Scientist
Narrator

John Keller (NASA/GSFC):
Scientist

David Ladd (USRA):
Producer

Nayi Castro (KBRwyle):
Narrator (Spanish)

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Scientific Visualization Studio

Science Paper:
Brent W. Denevi et al., The distribution and extent of lunar swirls, Icarus 273:15 (July 2016), pp. 53-67

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4468

Mission:
LRO (Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter)

Data Used: