On the request of NASA, the U.S. Geological Survey has prepared two highly detailed maps of the Moon. Fortunately, they've also been made available to the public, so check 'em out in all their lunar glory.


The two sets of maps, compiled by USGS cartographer Trent Hare and colleagues, include image mosaics and topographical maps.


The image maps above were put together using data captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Wide Angle Camera (WAC) and the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). All named features larger than 53 miles (85 km) in diameter or length were included (unless they weren't visible on the map). For an extremely hi-res (251 MB) version of this map, click here. A smaller, low-res version can be found here (recommended).


Above are the topographical lunar maps. They're based on data from the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter which is aboard NASA's LRO. To create the maps, the cartographers used more than 6.5 billion measurements collected between 2009 and 2013. For an extremely hi-res (472 MB) version of this map, click here. A smaller, low-res version can be found here (recommended).

[Via USGS]

Citation: Hare, T.M., Hayward, R.K., Blue, J.S., and Archinal, B.A., 2015, Image mosaic and topographic map of the moon: U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3316, 2 sheets.