False colour view of the moon, April 1993

False colour view of the moon, April 1993. 'This false-color photograph is a composite of 15 images of the Moon taken through three color filters by the Galileo spacecraft's solid-state imaging system during the spacecraft's passage through the Earth-Moon system on December 8, 1992. When this view was obtained, the spacecraft was 425,000 kilometers (262,000 miles) from the Moon and 69,000 kilometers (43,000 miles) from Earth. The false-color processing used to create this lunar image is helpful for interpreting the surface soil composition. Areas appearing red generally correspond to the lunar highlands, while blue to orange shades indicate the ancient volcanic lava flow of a mare, or lunar sea.' ©SSPL/NASA