Located west of the Mare Tranquillitatis (when viewed from the southern latitudes), the Arago crater (27.0 km in diameter and 1800 m deep) is well known and its region was repeatedly photographed over the years under various lighting conditions.

This particular interest is due to two compact relatively large volcanic structures (20.0km) and easy to find, cupolas or domes: Arago Alpha (north) and Arago Beta (West) this crater.

The scale and resolution of this beautiful picture reveal the complexities of the domes of Arago Alpha and Beta and also the existence of other smaller domes proven (circled in yellow); other waiting for confirmation (circled in green) and another suspect inside the crater itself Arago (circled in blue). Arago Beta has a round-shaped base with a depression (crater) on its north side. On the west side (left) of the dome there is another rounded lobe, as a small companion dome. A similar minor summit is on the north side of Arago Alpha, however a little further as a separate structure. Alpha is also seen as having two small but steep peaks near its center and an elongated depression extending to the North.

Among Arago Alpha and Maclear crater three domes with about the same size of the domes next to Alpha and Beta, and in the NE corner three more smaller formations that also seem to be domes. Interestingly, all the domes in this area are similar to each other but different from classic hemispheric summits, near to Hortensius, and elsewhere on the Moon. It is speculated that perhaps the morphology of the domes is related to the types of basalts and other elements present in its composition.

Also in Annex photo there is a large and long ridge between Arago D and E (marked by arrow) that would be called dome, if not its elongated shape.

The picture is very rich in training and we can easily notice the small riles south of the Arago crater. Also can be seen in great detail the Rimae Sosígenes and the part that enters the Mare Tranquilitatis Rima Ariadaeus.

There are two rare craters in this photo, Ritter and Sabine, they belong to the group of concentric craters, aye, those with visible rings of a second crater with the same center inside. Another prominent crater Lamont is the ghost, which was flooded by lava from Mare Tranquillitatis.

The large scale of the image, its high resolution and the low angle of sunlight seem to be the keys to the discovery of new geological artifacts in regions of the lunar maria.

Text: Rosely Gregio

Adaptation: Avani Soares

Data source:

Kapral, C. and R. Garfinkle 2005. GLR Lunar Domes Catalog

GLR. 2008+ (?). Consolidated Catalog of Lunar Domes.

- Chuck Wood