Where Can We See The Moon? Trivia Quiz

Due to its location in the Moon's far north, the name Mare Frigoris ('Sea of Cold') is quite appropriate, but it was not the first recorded name for this mare. It is a long and narrow mare at 1,446 km (899 mi) long and only 250 (155 mi) km wide.

Other names previously held include the Boreum Mare ('Northern Sea'), Mare Astronomicum ('Sea of Astronomy'), and Insula Borealis ('Northern Island'). It was Italian astronomer and priest Giovanni Battista Riccioli who named Mare Frigoris in 1651, and whose nomenclature became the standard still used today.

It's hard to tell with the slanted view we have of Mare Frigoris, but it is the second-largest mare on the Moon (after Oceanus Procellarum) with a diameter of 1,446 km (899 mi).

Mare Imbrium translates as 'Sea of Showers,' or 'Sea of Rains,' or 'Sea of Tears.'

It is the second largest crater visible on the moon (after Oceanus Procellarum) with a diameter of 1,145 km (711 mi). It is surmised that Mare Imbrium was created by the impact of a proto-planet from the asteroid belt some 3.9 billion years ago.

Mare Imbrium was visited three times in the first 50 years of space travel. The first was the Soviet's unmanned Luna 17 in 1970, which dropped off the Moon's very first rover Lunokhod 1. Next came the American's Apollo 15 mission in 1971, when David Scott and James Irwin visited for three days. Last of the three was China's unmanned Chang'e 3, which landed in 2013 and also brought a rover named Yutu.

Mare Serenitatis translates as 'Sea of Serenity.'

Located to the east of Mare Imbrium, Mare Serenitatis is about half the diameter of its neighbour, at 674 km (419 mi). It wasn't visited by anyone (or anything) until 2019, when the Israeli organization SpaceIL chose it as the landing site for its Beresheet lander. This was done as part of the Google Lunar X Prize competition. Unfortunately, the Beresheet's braking system failed and it crash-landed in the northern section of Mare Serenitatis.

Mare Crisium translates as 'Sea of Crises.'

Located on the northeastern edge of the face of the moon, Mare Crisium was once called the Caspian Sea, for its similar position on Earth (when looking at a map of Europe, Africa & the Middle East). The mare has a diameter of 556 km (345 mi).

Mare Crisium was visited twice by the Soviets. Perhaps not coincidentally, the first visit happened at the same time the Americans were tromping around in Mare Tranquilitatis (July of 1969). Luna 15 had launched three days before Apollo 11, with the Soviets' mission to bring lunar soil back to Earth (their second attempt). The mission was not a success, as Luna 15 crash-landed.

The Soviets' second visit to Mare Crisium came in 1976 with the Luna 24 robotic probe, and this time they succeeded in bringing back a soil sample. This was their third successful mission bringing back samples (after Luna 16 and Luna 20).

Mare Tranquillitatis translates as 'Sea of Tranquility.'

Located between Mare Serenitatis (to the NW) and Mare Fecunditatis (to the E), Mare Tranquillitatis has a diameter of 876 km (544 mi), making it the fifth-largest of the maria.

Of course, the Sea of Tranquility famously became the site of the first manned landing on the Moon, as Apollo 11's lunar module (nicknamed the Eagle) set down on July 20, 1969, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin aboard. But it was not the first time that spacecraft had come to this region of the Moon.

In 1965, Ranger 8 was deliberately crashed after completing its photographic mission. That final step was taken to gather more data on the surface terrain, since at the time no one was sure if the moon could be landed on. And in 1967, Surveyor 5 landed successfully after transmitting more than 19,000 images back to Earth.

Mare Fecunditatis translates as 'Sea of Fecundity' or 'Sea of Fertility.'

Located to the east of Mare Tranquillitatis and to the south of Mare Crisium, Mare Fecunditatis is one of the larger maria on the Moon with a diameter of 840 km (520 mi).

The claim to fame of Mare Fecunditatis is that it was the landing site of the Soviet Luna 16, which was the first robotic lander to successfully retrieve soil samples from the Moon and get them back to Earth, in September of 1970. They brought back 101 grams (3.56 ounces) of lunar soil.

Mare Nectaris translates as 'Sea of Nectar.'

Mare Nectaris is located south of Mare Tranquillitatis and southwest of Mare Fecunditatis, and it is a smallish mare with a diameter of 340 km (210 mi). It is the smallest of the maria in this quiz, but not the smallest named mare.

Mare Nubium translates as 'Sea of Clouds.'

The mare is located in the southern hemisphere (at 21 deg. S) almost directly south of Mare Serenitatis (at 28 deg. N), and is the closest mare to the distinctive Tycho impact crater in the southern lunar highlands. It has a diameter of 715 km (444 mi).

Mare Humorum translates as 'Sea of Moisture,' which really isn't as funny as you thought it might be.

Mare Humorum is located to the southwest of Mare Nubium and south of Mare Cognitum. It has a diameter of 420 km (260 mi). At one point it carried the name 'Anticaspia' for its position on the opposite side of the face of the Moon from Mare Crisium, which had been called the Caspian Sea.

Mare Cognitum translates as 'Sea that has Become Known.'

It took a while for Mare Cognitum to be named. It was originally an extension of the much larger Oceanus Procellarum, but it received a name in 1964 after it was chosen as the impact site for the Ranger 7 probe (launched on July 28th of that year). Ranger 7 was the first spacecraft to take closeups of the Moon's surface.