What are the dark flat areas of the moon called?

What are the dark flat areas of the moon called?

The dark and relatively featureless lunar plains which can clearly be seen are called maria (Latin for “seas”). They were believed by ancient astronomers to be filled with water. They are now known to be vast solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava.

Are there any dark spots on the Moon?

The Moon has a large number of dark spots, as can be seen on the photo below (Wikipedia), that differ significantly from the lighter areas. The dark areas often seem to be roundish, but not exclusively.

Is the Dark Side of the Moon a misnomer?

Knowing that, we could argue that the most commonly used term for Lunar far side, the dark side of the Moon, is in fact a misnomer:

What are the large lava beds on the moon called?

As the lava eventually solidified with the Moon cooling down, later impacts would of course still remain visible. These large lava beds are called Maria (Latin, pl. for Seas, sing.

What do the features of the Moon look like?

List of lunar features. Jump to navigation Jump to search. The surface of the Moon has many features, including mountains and valleys, craters, and maria—wide flat areas that look like seas from a distance but are probably solidified molten rock.

What are the different parts of the moon called?

It is divided into light areas called the Lunar Highlands and darker areas called Maria (literally, “seas”; the singular is Mare).

Why are there dark spots on the Moon?

The moon’s large dark spots are known as lunar maria, which is Latin for moon seas. Unlike our seas on Earth full of water, the seas on the moon were full of molten lava. Okay, so we know that they were seas full of molten lava, but how did they get there? How big are they?