WAXING GIBBOUS MOON 12.3 DAYS OLD, 2.6 DAYS TO FULL

moon The Moon is in its waxing gibbous phase, 12.3 days from new. North is up and to the left. The terminator, the sunrise line, defines the left-hand edge. Mare Serenitatis is directly above center, with Tranquillitatis down and to the right of it, Imbrium down and to the left. Long, thin Frigoris is above Imbrium. Just below the center lies Mare Nubium, with Humorum down and to the left of it. The dark spot at far upper right is Mare Crisium; Foecunditatis is down and to the right of it.

Three bright, rayed, young craters are obvious, Tycho (just 100 million years old) well down and to the right of center, Copernicus somewhat down and to the left of center, Kepler down and to the left of Copernicus. The "rays" are splashmarks (actually strings of secondary craters) that have not yet darkened. The bright crater near the terminator to the left of Copernicus is Aristarchus. At bottom, thr crater Schickard (225 km across) has just come into view.

To see a labelled image, push the Moon: moon

See full resolution.

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