Moon's Hidden Depths Uncovered with New Algorithm

Certain areas near the moon's poles linger perpetually in shadow, never receiving direct sunlight. Recent studies suggest these so-called permanently shadowed regions (PSRs) contain rich ice reservoirs that could reveal details about the early solar system; they could also help future visitors make fuel and other resources. But these areas are hard to photograph from satellites orbiting the moon and thus are a challenge to study. The few photons PSRs do reflect are often overwhelmed by staticlike camera noise and quantum effects. Now researchers have produced a deep-learning algorithm to cut through the interference and see these dark zones.