APOD: 2022 December 8 - Orion and the Ocean of Storms

Good morning, Rallypoint, and welcome to the December 8th edition of Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD): "Orion and The Ocean of Storms." The large darker regions we see on the lunar surface are basaltic plains formed when asteroid impacts on the far side of the Moon triggered volcanic eruptions on the near-Earth side. Early astronomers mistook these plains for seas and oceans, and the name stuck. We see here an image captured by Orion on its way back to a December 11th splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. The spacecraft is passing above The Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum). You can see the rays from Crater Kepler (and part of the crater itself) on the right side just below the one of the solar array panels that power Orion.