The amazing images show a close-up of the Tycho Crater in 16-foot (5-meter) resolution detail and were captured by a prototype radar system.

Scientists used the Green Bank Telescope and the Very Long Baseline Array to create detailed images in a project that paves the way for a next-generation radar system to study planets, moons, and asteroids in the solar system.

The Green Bank Telescope has a transmitter less powerful than a microwave oven, yet it was able to point its radar at the Moon’s surface and capture unprecedented details of the Tycho Crater.

“It’s pretty amazing what we’ve been able to capture so far, using less power than a common household appliance,” says Patrick Taylor, radar division head for Green Bank Observatory.

As noted by Space, the prototype is a collaboration between the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Green Bank Observatory, and Raytheon Intelligence & Space.

The partnership is designing a next-generation planetary radar system for the Green Bank Observatory.

The partnership is designing a next-generation planetary radar system for the Green Bank Observatory.

A system like this one will serve in the frontline of planetary defense, able to detect, track, and characterize potentially hazardous objects that may be on a crash course with Earth.

“In our tests, we were able to zero in on an asteroid 2.1 million kilometers away from us, more than five times the distance from the Earth to the Moon.