Explore the GIGAMOON: Incredible interactive image stitched together from 280,000 individual photos

There are often times when you look at the moon and wish you could take a closer look at the mysterious lunar surface.

Now those dreams are finally coming true as a mesmerizing interactive photo of ‘The Gigamoon’ has been stitched together from 280,000 individual photos.

Photographer Andrew McCarthy captured the pin-sharp image of the moon, illuminating famous landmarks like the Apollo landing sites.

The epic result was achieved after dozens of failed attempts, with users now able to get a close look at recognizable craters such as Copernicus, Tycho, Plato, Eratosthenes and Clavius.

“The quality is pretty consistent across the surface, which is very difficult on these big projects, so it’s quite a coincidence that the sky worked with me to create this image,” said Mr McCarthy.

“You can zoom in on every crater on this part of the moon that’s bigger than half a mile across.

“I’ve been planning this for years. I’ve tried dozens of times. Unfortunately, good conditions usually don’t last long enough to get consistent surface detail, so my hard drives are full of unfinished gigamoon projects.”

Copernicus is one of the most prominent craters on the near side of the moon, formed about 800 million years ago.

Debris from this site was sampled by Apollo 12 astronauts during their mission nearly 54 years ago.

Both Tycho and Clavius ​​craters, located in the rugged southern highlands of the lunar surface, are also illuminated in the image.

Mr. McCarthy even managed to get a rare photo of Plato – a crater rarely seen from Earth due to its position in the far north.

He continued: “This was shot completely from my backyard, I waited for the best conditions to come for me.

“The two telescopes used for this project include a 12″ Newtonian telescope and an 11″ SCT, both of which were integral to creating the final image.”