APOD: The Moona Lisa (2024 Sep 14)

[APOD Robot]

The Moona Lisa

Explanation: Only natural colors of the Moon in planet Earth's sky appear in this creative visual presentation. Arranged as pixels in a framed image, the lunar disks were photographed at different times. Their varying hues are ultimately due to reflected sunlight affected by changing atmospheric conditions and the alignment geometry of Moon, Earth, and Sun. Here, the darkest lunar disks are the colors of earthshine. A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth's oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written over 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. But stand farther back from your screen or just shift your gaze to the smaller versions of the image. You might also see one of da Vinci's most famous works of art.

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[Ann]

Yes, I like it!

Today's APOD is what Leonardo da Vinci's Mona Lisa would have looked like, if Leonardo had painted her with large pixels (or big filled circles) instead of brush strokes, and if he had used too few pixels or circles!

The Moona Lisa. Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Sarcone and Marcella Giulia Pace

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Mona Lisa or La Gioconda, painting by Leonardo da Vinci from circa 1503-1506.

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As the color nerd that I am, and the lover of blue things that I am, I can't help noticing that the darkest, Earthshine-illuminated Moon disk are a very dark shade of blue, maybe something like this: ███

That shade of blue is not very blue, to be sure, but it is bluer than I expect the Moon to ever appear to be. And it is also bluer than any of the dark areas in Leonardo's painting. Is that the true hue of Earthshine, then?

True color of the Earthshine-illuminated Moon? Credit: etwright

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Can't you find the Lady in the Moon? Here she is:

The Lady in the Moon. Maybe her name is Moona Lisa? Credit: I don't know.

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Ann

[pw.rembalski@gmail.com]

The image does not look like the Mona Lisa to me. It is more like the head in the Madonna of the Yarnwinder (Spindles), the Buccleuch version!

[johnnydeep]

The image does not look like the Mona Lisa to me. It is more like the head in the Madonna of the Yarnwinder (Spindles), the Buccleuch version!

Nice. I had to google that. From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_of_the_Yarnwinder

The Madonna of the Yarnwinder (Italian: Madonna dei Fusi, "Madonna of the Spindles")[1] is a subject depicted by Leonardo da Vinci in at least one, and perhaps two paintings begun in 1499 or later. Leonardo was recorded as being at work on one such picture in Florence in 1501 for Florimond Robertet, a secretary to King Louis XII of France. This may have been delivered to the French court in 1507, though scholars are divided on this point. The subject is known today from several versions of which two, called the Buccleuch Madonna and the Lansdowne Madonna, are thought to be partly by Leonardo's hand. The underdrawings of both paintings show similar experimental changes made to the composition (or pentimenti), suggesting that both evolved concurrently in Leonardo's workshop.

Click to view full size image

Though I still think the Mona Lisa is a much stronger resemblance.

[Yottaxa]

This is literally one of the dumbest and out of context APOD's ever. I come here for atro pics, no weird "art" like this. You guys are so out of touch from what this used to be.

Oh and ps. your anti-bot thingy is horrible too.