Starship Asterisk*

Full Moon, Full Earth

Explanation: The Moon was new on July 16. Its familiar nearside facing the surface of planet Earth was in shadow. But on that date a million miles away, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) spacecraft's Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) captured this view of an apparently Full Moon crossing in front of a Full Earth. In fact, seen from the spacecraft's position beyond the Moon's orbit and between Earth and Sun, the fully illuminated lunar hemisphere is the less familiar farside. Only known since the dawn of the space age, the farside is mostly devoid of dark lunar maria that sprawl across the Moon's perpetual Earth-facing hemisphere. Only the small dark spot of the farside's Mare Moscoviense (Sea of Moscow) is clear, at the upper left. Planet Earth's north pole is near 11 o'clock, with the North America visited by Hurricane Dolores near center. Slight color shifts are visible around the lunar edge, an artifact of the Moon's motion through the field caused by combining the camera's separate exposures taken in quick succession through different color filters. While monitoring the Earth and solar wind for space weather forcasts, about twice a year DSCOVR can capture similar images of Moon and Earth together as its crosses the orbital plane of the Moon.

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You can easily see this is not the Moon for yourself. All you need to do is go out and look at the real Moon. Looks nothing like this.

keeper of the faith wrote:You can easily see this is not the Moon for yourself. All you need to do is go out and look at the real Moon. Looks nothing like this.

It sure is the Moon! No, the familiar near side of the Moon looks nothing like this. But what you are seeing in today's APOD is the far side of the Moon.

Imagine a couple that are forever waltzing together. They always see one another's faces and have no idea what the other person's back looks like. But photograph them from a distance, and one of them is going to show his or her back to the photographer.


Ann

Ann wrote:But what you are seeing in today's APOD is the far side of the Moon.

Yeah, the far side that also happens to have an atmosphere, like in the picture.

the farside is mostly devoid of dark lunar maria that sprawl across the Moon's perpetual Earth-facing hemisphere

why is that?

Is there a name for this web-like feature near the top left of the moon?
(First post on this forum after almost a year of viewing the APOD. Newbie question!)

err, top right.

zeecatman wrote:Is there a name for this web-like feature near the top left of the moon?
(First post on this forum after almost a year of viewing the APOD. Newbie question!)

On the near side, it is called a crater with a ray system.

zeecatman wrote:First post on this forum after almost a year of viewing the APOD. Newbie question!

Welcome aboard!

zeecatman wrote:Is there a name for this web-like feature near the top left of the moon?

According to this website it's called Jackson [crater].

keeper of the faith wrote:

zeecatman wrote:Is there a name for this web-like feature near the top left of the moon?
(First post on this forum after almost a year of viewing the APOD. Newbie question!)

On the near side, it is called a crater with a ray system.

Of course. What I meant was, does the crater have a specific name? Similarly to how the crater on the "far side" is referred to as the "Mare Moscoviense". Again, apologies. Perhaps I should have clarified my question.

According to this website it's called Jackson [crater].

Many thanks! An interesting name indeed.

This picture looks like an artifact. The moon is defocused while the earth is sharp ( I think that field depth could not be an issue ) and the right side of the moon shows green halo of unknown origin...
Best regards.

maurizio52 wrote:This picture looks like an artifact. The moon is defocused while the earth is sharp ( I think that field depth could not be an issue ) and the right side of the moon shows green halo of unknown origin...
Best regards.

APOD Robot wrote:
Slight color shifts are visible around the lunar edge, an artifact of the Moon's motion through the field caused by combining the camera's separate exposures taken in quick succession through different color filters.

It's probably not just the Moon that is affected by the color shifts. The Moon's left edge is slightly purple, and the same color effect can be seen along the Earth's left edge. The Moon's right edge is green, and the Earth's might be too, but that is hidden one way or another against the blackness of space.

Ann

maurizio52 wrote:[T]he right side of the moon shows green halo of unknown origin...

APOD Robot wrote: Explanation: Slight color shifts are visible around the lunar edge, an artifact of the Moon's motion through the field caused by combining the camera's separate exposures taken in quick succession through different color filters.

Note that because the camera is closer to the Moon than to the Earth in today's APOD, the Moon appears larger in relation to the Earth than it really is.

Ann wrote:

maurizio52 wrote:This picture looks like an artifact. The moon is defocused while the earth is sharp ( I think that field depth could not be an issue ) and the right side of the moon shows green halo of unknown origin...
Best regards.

APOD Robot wrote:
Slight color shifts are visible around the lunar edge, an artifact of the Moon's motion through the field caused by combining the camera's separate exposures taken in quick succession through different color filters.

It's probably not just the Moon that is affected by the color shifts. The Moon's left edge is slightly purple, and the same color effect can be seen along the Earth's left edge. The Moon's right edge is green, and the Earth's might be too, but that is hidden one way or another against the blackness of space.

Ann

Ok the green halo is of KNOWN origin. The moon is moving around the earth at about 1km/sec, so it is more blurred during the exposures than the earth in background, this is well noticeable if you turn the picture negative.
So the exposure times should have last several minutes to allow such a moving, and the resulting effect is an unnatural artifact.

"That's no Moon..." said Obiwan...


Oh...yeah...it IS The Moon...

For a minute I was thinking Earth Eclipse....but I guess the Sun would have to be on the other side????
Still....the ILLUMINATING SOURCE is on the other side of The Moon...from OUR VIEW....so....in a way???

Any Whoooo....Really nice, and interesting image.

:---[===] *

Earth's Moon ... Too Close For Comfort !
Also, I give thanks to all involved that gave us this truly remarkable image of our worlds.

Boomer12k wrote:"That's no Moon..." said Obiwan...


Oh...yeah...it IS The Moon...

For a minute I was thinking Earth Eclipse....but I guess the Sun would have to be on the other side????
Still....the ILLUMINATING SOURCE is on the other side of The Moon...from OUR VIEW....so....in a way???

Any Whoooo....Really nice, and interesting image.

:---[===] *

More of an occult than an eclipse. The Moon's shadow could be upon the Earth or it must be very close to our planet.

P>S> After a second look, My guess is the Moon's shadow is off to the "East" (Right Side) of the Earth's position. That I base on the slight shadowing of the right limb of our Moon.

wolfie138 wrote:

the farside is mostly devoid of dark lunar maria that sprawl across the Moon's perpetual Earth-facing hemisphere

why is that?

I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps the Earth suffered a huge impact, and some of the debris from the Earth impacted the Moon, creating the maria?

so why is it that the earth is fully illuminated while the moon appears grayed out instead of brighter? Did someone darken the moon? Surely the CCD would have picked up the brighter image?

MadMan wrote:

wolfie138 wrote:

the farside is mostly devoid of dark lunar maria that sprawl across the Moon's perpetual Earth-facing hemisphere

why is that?

I was wondering the same thing. Perhaps the Earth suffered a huge impact, and some of the debris from the Earth impacted the Moon, creating the maria?

It's the mass anomaly from the impact that eventually resulted in the dark lunar maria side permanently facing the Earth.

.

http://www.rmg.co.uk/explore/sea-and-ships/in-depth/elizabeth/representing-the-queen/symbols-and-emblems-used-in-elizabeth-portraiture wrote:
<<Sir Walter Ralegh helped to promote the cult of Elizabeth as a Moon goddess with a long poem he wrote during the late 1580s, 'The Ocean's Love to Cynthia', in which he compared Elizabeth to the Moon. Moons and pearls (because of their resemblance to the moon) were used to present Elizabeth as the goddess of the Moon, Cynthia (also known as Diana), who was a virgin and therefore pure.>>

maurizio52 wrote:
This picture looks like an artifact. The moon is defocused while the earth is sharp ( I think that field depth could not be an issue ) and the right side of the moon shows green halo of unknown origin...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photobombing wrote:
Photobombing is the act of accidentally or purposely putting oneself into the view of a photograph, often in order to play a practical joke on the photographer or the subjects

This is a fake. If the earth is lit like it is then the back side of the moon would be as well because the sun is shining on both.

I always feel so foolish when I see something - like this - that I should have anticipated but did not. What a joy to see the Moon and Earth taken in a single photo from this wonderful vantage point (toward the Sun). Thanks APOD and thanks NASA and thanks EVERYBODY! Woody Pope is wrong: the reflectivity of the moon is very low. And the moon is very gray and frankly very dull, say compared with Pluto!!