January 17, 2023

Radar image of Tycho Crater on the Moon (Image NRAO/AUI/NSF)

A new image of Tycho’s crater on the Moon is the most detailed yet captured from Earth. A collaboration between Green Bank Observatory (GBO), National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Raytheon Intelligence & Space (RI&S), and Green Bank Telescope (GBT) produced the image thanks to a new radar technology that greatly improved astronomical applications of radars. Images of the lunar surface are just the beginning because other objects can be examined to create far more detailed images than radars could before. This result can be achieved with low-power radar transmitters.