WAXING GIBBOUS MOON 9.5 DAYS OLD, 1.9 DAYS SINCE FIRST QUARTER

moon The Moon is just barely into its waxing gibbous phase, 8.7 days from new, just 1.1 days after the first quarter. The terminator, the sunrise line, defines the left-hand edge. North is to the top. Three dark maria dominate the upper right, from top to bottom Mare Serenitatis, Tranquillitatis, and Foecunditatis; Crisium appears at the far right edge, while Imbrium (and the large crater Archimedes) at upper left are just creeping into sunlight. Mare Nectaris is just below Tranquillitatis, while Mare Australe appears at the lower right lunar edge. The southern hemisphere is filled with craters, the mosrt famed of which is the relatively new crater Tycho (about a quarter of the way up the terminator), which is also just seeing sunlight after a long cold lunar night. Imbrium is defined by the circular Apennine "mountains," which make the impact basin's outer wall.

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By Jim Kaler. Return to MoonScapes, Skylights, or STARS.