At the moon’s north and south poles, the sun is never more than 1.5 degrees above or below the horizon. The patterns of daylight and the resulting shadows differ from anywhere on the moon – or on Earth. After enlarging the elevation area of a small moon near the South Pole, this visualization recreates the lighting conditions there for two lunar days, the equivalent of two Earth moons.
It’s near the poles, the sun doesn’t rise and it’s setting. Conversely, when the moon rotates on its axis, the sun moves along the horizon, moving a full 360 degrees around the terrain. Mountains 75 miles (120 km) away cast shadows across the landscape. With the sun’s low position, the sun can never reach the bottom of the deep hole. Places that are never reached by the sun are known as areas of permanent shade. They are the locations of some of the coldest points in the solar system, and because of this, they trap volatile chemicals, including water ice, which will instantly sublimate (convert directly from solid to gas) into harsh rays free of air from the falling sun. In many other places on the moon.
The sun also seems to move in a circle at the earth’s poles, but also moves across various altitudes. From the turning point of spring to the turning point of the summer sun, for example, the Sun rises higher in the sky, reaching a height of 23.4 degrees. It just hugged the horizon for a few days around the equinox. The sun is at the poles of the moon Always Near the horizon, the shadow is always long, sweeping the surface as the sun’s azimuth changes.
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