Map of the Moon
The face the Moon always shows us. Tap a name, then look for it tonight with binoculars.
Apollo 11 · 20 July 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first people on the Moon.
As seen from the northern hemisphere: south of the equator the Moon looks upside down.
- Sea of Showers
- A 1,100 km basin from a giant impact, filled later by lava. The Moon's 'right eye'.
- Sea of Tranquility
- Smooth, flat lava plains: chosen as the safest place for the first landing.
- Ocean of Storms
- The largest dark plain, wider than the Mediterranean.
- Tycho
- A young crater (about 108 million years). Its bright rays stretch across the full Moon.
- Copernicus
- 93 km wide with terraced walls: lovely in binoculars near first quarter.
- Aristarchus
- The brightest spot on the Moon: it glows even in earthshine.
- Plato
- A dark, flat-floored crater, easy to find at the top of the Moon.
- Apollo 11
- 20 July 1969: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, the first people on the Moon.
- Apollo 12
- November 1969: landed beside the Surveyor 3 probe and brought pieces of it home.
- Apollo 14
- February 1971: Alan Shepard hit two golf balls here.
- Apollo 15
- July 1971: the first lunar rover drove along a winding valley, Hadley Rille.
- Apollo 16
- April 1972: the only landing in the bright highlands.
- Apollo 17
- December 1972: the last time people walked on the Moon (so far).
- Chang'e 3
- December 2013: China's first landing, with the Yutu rover.
- Chang'e 5
- December 2020: China brought 1.7 kg of young Moon rock home.
- Chandrayaan-3
- August 2023: India, the first landing near the south pole.
- SLIM
- January 2024: Japan's lander touched down within 100 m of its target, then tipped on its nose.