The surface of the Moon looks very different in orbiter images taken at local noon than it does in images from other times. Here are two examples of the same places in Lalande Crater. In each image, the top section was taken near local sunset (sun incidence angle 68o) and the bottom section taken near local noon (sun incidence angle 12o):
The above are images M1096551351LC and M1103624254LC (which is flipped horizontally in the online display). The crater shown is about 80 m across. Coordinates about 4.47oS by 8.6oW.
The above are images M1154271821RC (which is upside down in the online display), and again M1103624254LC. The white boulder debris field is about 120 m across. It is at coordinates about 4.85oS by 8.6oW.
All of these images were taken with the narrow-angle camera of the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, so they are of the visible-light spectrum only (but recorded in black and white). I have been trying to understand how the big changes in apparent tone work. This blog post from the Moon Zoo project says that fresh impacts and their ejecta are bright because
their newly exposed and broken surfaces are clean and shiny and have a relatively high albedo in comparison to the mature, darker mare material they lie on top of
Does this basically mean that particle surfaces are smoother at the microscopic level? Is there a chemical difference too? I have read about the Opposition Effect, but that doesn't seem relevant. And none of this explains the black stuff - what is that?
Here are a couple of other images of the area, the first also from the LRO, showing normalized surface temperature variations, and the second from Clementine, showing optical maturity, imaged in the UV spectrum.
