Caption: Mercator projection image Moon map.

Features:

1. The near side is the central 50% zone. The far side is the left and right 25 % zones.

2. The darker regions are the lunar maria (singular lunar mare) which are the lowlands of the Moon. Everything NOT maria is the lunar highlands.

3. Oceanus Procellarum is the biggest mare. Orientale Basin is to the south-west of Oceanus Procellarum. Mare Tranquillitatis is the hind end (but not the tail or feet) of the Leaping Moon Rabbit. Mare Moscoviense (the largest mare on the far side) is due east of Mare Tranquillitatis and rather inconspicuous.

4. One can see the maria cover only a small part of the lunar surface: ∼ 16 % (see Wikipedia: Lunar mare). However, they are concentrated on the near side of the Moon (where all the big ones are), and so look more extensive than they are to Earthlings.

5. Mare means sea in Latin. Galileo (1564--1642), himself suggested they were bodies of water though he probably eventually realized they had to be plains (HI-140). The names of the maria (at least the largest ones???) on the near side of the Moon were given by Giovanni Battista Riccioli (1598--1671) (see Wikipedia: Giovanni Battista Riccioli: Work concerning the Moon).

   But the name mare is actually good. The mare are frozen seas of lava: they are lava plains and are dominated by basalt rocks: they are silicates rich in iron, manganese, and titanium (Se-451).

6. For lists of Moon features, see Wikipedia: List of lunar craters, Wikipedia: List of lunar features, Wikipedia: List of lunar maria, Wikipedia: List of lunar mountains and mountain ranges.