Weaver wrote:

Paula wrote:

Weaver wrote:Pretty much ...


http://stardate.org/nightsky/meteors

Aww, after midnight, I'll be in my bed before that, I was up at 6 with a sick child

No, no - you WANT too view before the Moon rises - the Moonrise time is listed because it interferes with viewing.

Oh

Spearthrower wrote:

Just gob-smackingly awesome!

I don't want to sound negative, but I was wondering whether you were referring to the moon itself, or to the arbitrary colouring of its mapped elevation levels?

Animavore wrote:Of course it's cloudy and rainy tonight. Of course it is

Of course it is?

jamest wrote:

Spearthrower wrote:

Just gob-smackingly awesome!

I don't want to sound negative, but I was wondering whether you were referring to the moon itself, or to the arbitrary colouring of its mapped elevation levels?

Nothing to do with the colouration but the stunning detail of the impact craters.

Wowie kazowie!

I think I want to be a psychedelic moon for Halloween next year.

Someone should make this into an aura image of the moon to see if the woo-ists pick it up

"as you can see here, the blue area expresses an area of sadness, so if that part of the moon is lit many people suffer extra sadness...."

You guys are so mean... but I'm going to put it up on FB and see how many folks bite the bait.

OK! I did it. I put some bull shit about the moon on my FB page. Even though it's bull shit, I think it sounds good. I'll let you know how the gullibility plays out.

Explanation: Tidally locked in synchronous rotation, the Moon always presents its familiar nearside to denizens of planet Earth. From lunar orbit, the Moon's farside can become familiar, though. In fact this sharp picture, a mosaic from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's wide angle camera, is centered on the lunar farside. Part of a global mosaic of over 15,000 images acquired between November 2009 and February 2011, the highest resolution version shows features at a scale of 100 meters per pixel. Surprisingly, the rough and battered surface of the farside looks very different from the nearside covered with smooth dark lunar maria. The likely explanation is that the farside crust is thicker, making it harder for molten material from the interior to flow to the surface and form the smooth maria.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110409.html






Explanation: About 1,300 images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft's wide angle camera were used to compose this spectacular view of a familiar face - the lunar nearside. But why is there a lunar nearside? The Moon rotates on its axis and orbits the Earth at the same rate, about once every 28 days. Tidally locked in this configuration, the synchronous rotation always keeps one side, the nearside, facing Earth. As a result, featured in remarkable detail in the full resolution mosaic, the smooth, dark, lunar maria (actually lava-flooded impact basins), and rugged highlands, are well-known to earthbound skygazers. To find your favorite mare or large crater, just slide your cursor over the picture. The LRO images used to construct the mosaic were recorded over a two week period last December.

http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110303.html