The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) reported on the "halo" generated by the Apollo 15* lunar module engine exhaust plume that was detected in the data from Terrain Camera (TC) image.

This was an image processed by the SELENE mission instrument team from the observation data of the Apollo 15 landing site on the moon (the foot of the Apennine Mountains encircling the Mare Imbrium close to Hadley Rille). This is the world's first report on the detection of the "halo" through observations after the end of the Apollo program.

(Fig 3) The enlarged image where the area of the potential "halo" exists. (left image: 1 square kilometer in size. The inside of the red circle includes the potential "halo").
The reflectivity of the "halo" area became brighter than the original one by the Apollo 15* lunar module engine exhaust plume and the probable "halo" area was confirmed

Mettendo insieme tutti questi elementi, possiamo determinare che Aldrin si trova nella zona del suolo lunare spazzata dal getto del LM pochi istanti prima dell'allunaggio, durante queste ultime manovre di correzione. Il getto asportò parte dello strato di polvere superficiale, più scura rispetto al suolo sottostante, oltretutto spianando la superficie e formando quindi una zona avente una minor quantità di oggetti che potessero formare ombre. Questo alterò la quantità di luce riflessa dal terreno verso il punto di ripresa.

L'effetto schiarente del getto del LM è documentato per esempio dalle immagini della sonda giapponese Kaguya per l'Apollo 15, come descritto in questo articolo.

Senza la conoscenza di tutti questi aspetti peculiari delle condizioni in cui fu fatta quella fotografia, è abbastanza comprensibile che anche un fotografo esperto non sia in grado di spiegare correttamente il chiarore intorno ad Aldrin e quindi ricorra alla spiegazione che gli è più familiare in un contesto normale: l'uso di una fonte di luce artificiale.

Pag. 15

Optical, Thermal, and Radar Characteristics

Television observations with color filters indicate a gray Moon even in disturbed areas. No demonstrable differences in color were observed on any of the coarse blocks so far examined, which are all gray, but lighter than the fine-grained gray matrix of the surface.
Photometric measurements at each Surveyor landing site show that the undisturbed fine matrix of the mare surface has a normal luminance factor (normal albedo) that varies from 7.3 to 8.2 percent, and the mare material disturbed by the footpads and by the surface sampler has a normal luminance factor that ranges from 5.5 to 6.1 percent.
The normal luminance factor for the fine-grained, undisturbed and disturbed material at the Surveyor VII site is higher than that of the corresponding mare material.The normal luminance factor for the rock fragments ranges from 14 to 22 percent both on the maria and on the rim flank of Tycho. Light scattered from the surfaces of some rock fragments at the Surveyor VII site is as much as 30 percent polarized at phase angles near 120 ° .This suggests these rocks are crystalline or glassy, and that their surfaces are relatively free of fine particles.
Observations of the fine-grained parts of the lunar surface disturbed by the landing and liftoff of the Surveyor VI spacecraft, and by rolling fragments set in motion by the spacecraft, have shown that lunar material exposed at depths no greater than a few millimeters has a significantly lower normal luminance factor than the undisturbed surface. A similar, abrupt decrease in normal luminance factor at, depths of 3 mm or less was observed at the Surveyor III and V landing sites.
The occurrence of this rather sharp contact of material with contrasting optical properties at widely separated localities on the Moon suggests thatsome process, or combination of processes, lightens the material at the lunar surface. If this is true, it may imply that a complementary process of darkening occurs at depths of a few millimeters and deeper, so that the abrupt albedo contact is not destroyed as a result of repetitive turnover of the lunar surface by solid-particle bombardment.

Rightward of 5466. View of lunar surface after EVA completion with the US flag and TV camera. Note the difference between the darker, heavily disturbed soil around the camera, and the undisturbed light soil where Neil and Buzz didn't set foot. See also the routes on the Traverse Map and compare to the same area prior to the EVA.

Ascent of the Falcon: silent 16-mm view from behind the lunar module pilot's window. Strips of foil fly sideways at ignition. The spacecraft pitches unevenly during ascent, revealing its own shadow and then the descent stage on the ground, briefly, at the 7-second mark. Astronaut- and rover-disturbed, darker soil and the ALSEP area can also be picked out. The boulder-littered wall of Hadley Rille comes into view at 23 seconds. The Falcon yaws right and flies along the rille like a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon.