<p>The streaks you are referring to I would rather call <strong>ridges</strong>.</p>
<p>The surface of the moon is of course not a perfectly flat and the same way as Earth has ups and downs, there are ridges on the Moon, too.</p>
<p>You say that most of them are diagonal - top-left to bottom-right but on the right hand corner of the image, there are ones vertical ones. So, there is no specific orientation for these &quot;streaks&quot;.</p>
<p>On the other hand, if there were streaks around a crater such that concave part of the streaks point towards the crater, they are due to shock waves travelling outwards from the point of impact.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2014-03-23T12:02:59.920Z
2021-09-09T10:19:46.417Z
2021-09-09T10:19:46.417Z
Poruri Sai Rahul
<p>I was poking around <a href="http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/gigapan/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this Gigapan image of the moon's north polar region</a>, when I noticed this area:</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/7E1ba.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

<p>What is the source of these light streaks?</p>

<p>For position reference, here's a zoomed-out shot (I couldn't easily get coordinates from the Gigapan thing):</p>

<p><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/6rZtb.png" alt="enter image description here"></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-09-10T05:43:37.480Z
I don’t think it’s pareidolia. The structures (I assume) OP is referring to do look a little bit like small dunes. They seem to be aligned a bit to form the „streaks“, in multiple directions (I think two or three), so a criss cross pattern emerges. My guess would be ejecta from meteor hits or something that was established when the moon was in the process of creation.
Hartmut Braun
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-19T03:41:02.707Z
can you please highlight the elements you are calling "streaks"?
Jeremy
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-19T14:08:26.027Z
They are the faint criss-crossing lines throughout the image. Most of them are diagonal top-left to bottom-right. I tried to bring them out with some image processing but the results weren't very helpful.
sinelaw
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-03-19T19:45:30.300Z
Maybe it's a sort of pareidolia. At any rate, I'm not understanding what you are seeing. Perhaps you can overdraw an image and add it so that we all know what it is you are referring to
Jeremy
<the-moon><geology>
What are these faint streaks on the moon?
sinelaw
# What are these faint streaks on the moon?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2014-03-19)

I was poking around [this Gigapan image of the moon's north polar region](http://lroc.sese.asu.edu/gigapan/), when I noticed this area:

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/7E1ba.png)

What is the source of these light streaks?

For position reference, here's a zoomed-out shot (I couldn't easily get coordinates from the Gigapan thing):

![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/6rZtb.png)

**Tags:** the-moon, geology

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: can you please highlight the elements you are calling "streaks"?  
> **username_0**: They are the faint criss-crossing lines throughout the image. Most of them are diagonal top-left to bottom-right. I tried to bring them out with some image processing but the results weren't very helpful.  
> **username_2**: Maybe it's a sort of pareidolia. At any rate, I'm not understanding what you are seeing. Perhaps you can overdraw an image and add it so that we all know what it is you are referring to  
> **username_1**: I don’t think it’s pareidolia. The structures (I assume) OP is referring to do look a little bit like small dunes. They seem to be aligned a bit to form the „streaks“, in multiple directions (I think two or three), so a criss cross pattern emerges. My guess would be ejecta from meteor hits or something that was established when the moon was in the process of creation.  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2014-03-23. Score: 4

The streaks you are referring to I would rather call **ridges**.

The surface of the moon is of course not a perfectly flat and the same way as Earth has ups and downs, there are ridges on the Moon, too.

You say that most of them are diagonal - top-left to bottom-right but on the right hand corner of the image, there are ones vertical ones. So, there is no specific orientation for these "streaks".

On the other hand, if there were streaks around a crater such that concave part of the streaks point towards the crater, they are due to shock waves travelling outwards from the point of impact.


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