A Rille Runs Through It?

Question

http://grin.hq.nasa.gov/ABSTRACTS/GPN-2000-001486.html
http://dayton.hq.nasa.gov/IMAGES/MEDIUM/GPN-2000-001486.jpg

As you can see in this page on nasa website, this is a photograph of surface of moon. Nasa calls this photograph "A Rille Runs Through It".
What is "Rille"?

Answer 1

That's a great picture. Thank you for that one. A rille (German for 'groove') is the word typically used to describe any of the long, narrow depressions in the lunar surface that resemble channels. Typically a rille can be up to several kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers in length. However, the term has also been used loosely to describe similar structures on a number of planets in the solar system, including Mars, Venus, and on a number of moons.
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The Apollo 15 astronauts Scot and Irwin landed near Hadley Rille in a valley between two mountain ranges. They drove to the edge of the rille in their lunar rover. The view across the rille was more than likely one of the most spectacular sights ever seen on the Moon by any of the Apollo astronauts. They described seeing boulders the size of buildings on the floor of the rille.
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Precise formation mechanisms of rilles have yet to be determined. It is likely that different types formed by different processes. Common features shared by lunar rilles and similar structures on other bodies suggest that the same process must operate widely in the solar system. Leading theories include lava channels, collapsed lava tubes, near-surface dike intrusion, subsidence of lava-covered basin and crater floors, and tectonic extension.
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Answer 2

Rilles are channels in the surface of the moon made either by flowing lava or faulting. Running from the source of magma, they run downhill into the dark lava flooded "seas" or maria on the moon. Lunar basalts were very fluid when molten and flowed easily for long distances, somtimes carving river like channels as they flowed into craters or impact basins to form the maria. The ones formed by faulting are grabens, which is a channel formed when a block of crust drops down between two parallel faults. They tend to be straight or arc shaped. Or they are gouge marks formed by chunks of lunar rock thrown out during large impacts. They can also be found inside or extending from craters. In some of the maria, the weight of the overlying magma causes the ground to subside, creating rilles that follow the edge of the maria. One volcanic rille was visited by the Apollo 15 astronauts, who walked right up to it's edge and took photographs and samples from it. Called Hadley Rille, it lies near a crater bearing the same name. Rilles are formed in several ways but many can be seen from Earth in a good 6-inch telescope all over the Moon.

Answer 3

6-yr Bump! The formation of rilles is still up to debate (re: Wikipedia). The referenced rille was photographed by an Apollo 10 astronaut, though I can’t find a name for it. Hadley Rille or Vallis Schroeter seem the most commonly referenced moon rilles. By comparison, Barker Cave in Australia is Earth’s longest lava tube (when rilles are collapsed lava tubes).

Answer 4

Rille is a take-off from the book/movie "A River Runs Through It"......

def of Rille....

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/rille

Answer 5

Excellent answer Gribbling, just make it "Groove".
I know it's just a typo, just wanted to clarify it for the asker.
Hope you don't mind.

Adolph

Answer 6

German for "grove", and used to describe long, narrow channels on the moon's surface.

Edit:
Oops - thanks Adolph, yes - it is "groove".