These images produced by LAMP aboard NASA's LRO reveal features at the Moon's northern and southern poles in the regions that lie in perpetual darkness. They show many permanently shadowed regions, or PSRs, are darker at far-ultraviolet wavelengths (at left, and top inset) and redder than nearby surface areas that receive sunlight (bottom inset). The darker PSR regions are consistent with having large surface porosities (indicating "fluffy" soils) while the reddening is consistent with the presence of water frost on the surface. Image courtesy of Southwest Research Institute

Lyman-alpha albedo maps for the North (left) and South (right) poles were created using the first year of LAMP's night-side observations. These maps focus on the regions poleward of 80 deg Latitude. Calibrated photon events are accumulated month by month and divided by model-based illumination signal at the corresponding times for each grid cell. Generally, we find good agreement between UV-dark regions and the coldest shaded craters revealed by the LRO/Diviner instrument. Identifying the cause of this albedo darkening requires future work and spectral analysis. Likely explanations include either the presence of UV-absorbing volatiles at the surface and/or a change in surface properties (e.g., roughness) at these interesting locations.