A Violet Moon
Explanation:
Checking out the Galileo
spacecraft's cameras during its December 1992 flyby
of Earth's Moon, controllers took
this dramatically illuminated picture
through a violet filter.
The view looks down on the
Moon's north polar
region with
the Sun shining from the left at a low angle and
the direction toward the moon's North pole toward the lower right.
Across the image upper left stretches
the smooth volcanic plain
of the
Mare Imbrium.
Pythagoras crater, 65 miles wide, is near the
center of the image -- mostly in shadow, its central peak just
catches the sunlight.
Yesterday, the Moon made its closest approach to Earth and was
full for the second time in July
(as reckoned by UT dates). The closest
point in the Moon's orbit is referred to as Lunar Perigee, a mere
221,797 miles at 8 hours UT. The second full moon in a month is known as
a "Blue Moon".
Authors & editors:
Robert Nemiroff
(MTU) &
Jerry Bonnell
(USRA)
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings,
and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris.
Specific
rights apply.
A service of:
LHEA at
NASA /
GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
