Astronomy Picture of the Day

                         Astronomy Picture of the Day

    Discover the cosmos! [1] Each day a different image or photograph of our
 fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a
                           professional astronomer.

                                2018 November 3
                                      [2]
                                  Lunar LOVE
  Image Credit & Copyright [3] : Masaru Takeo - courtesy: Junichi Watanabe [4]
                                  (NAOJ [5] )

Explanation: A more creative [6]  search by a group of amateur astronomers in
the Ehime Prefecture of Shikoku Island, Japan has found lunar L-O-V-E [7] .
Their secret was an examination of this sharp image of the First Quarter Moon.
To discover it for yourself [8] you'll need to look closely at details of the
shadow and light along the terminator, the line between lunar night and day
Created by the contrast of shadowed crater floors with sunlit walls and
ridges, the letter V is not too hard to find near the center of the image.
Letters L and E are a bit more challenging though, but can be teased out of
shadow and light along the terminator at the bottom. Of course, on the
cratered surface [9] of the Moon the O is easy ... . Moonwatchers on planet
Earth [10]  should understand that like the famous lunar X [11] , also seen
here, these lunar letters are transient and only appear along the terminator
in the hours around the Moon's first quarter phase. So your next chance for
lunar L-O-V-E is the first quarter Moon on November 15.

                    Tomorrow's picture: crash in the desert

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    Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff [23] (MTU [24] ) & Jerry Bonnell [25]
                                  (UMCP [26] )
          NASA Official:  Phillip Newman Specific rights apply [27] .
              NASA Web Privacy Policy and Important Notices [28]
              A service of: ASD [29]  at NASA [30]  / GSFC [31]
                           & Michigan Tech. U. [32]
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Site notes:
  [1] archivepix.html
  [2] image/1811/LOVE1.jpg
  [3] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [4] https://www.iau.org/administration/membership/ individual/7535/
  [5] http://prc.nao.ac.jp/prc/en.php
  [6] https://www.universetoday.com/129279/looking-lunar-letters/
  [7] image/1811/LOVE2_1080.jpg
  [8] https://moon.nasa.gov/
  [9] ap010428.html
  [10] ap060909.html
  [11] ap180301.html
  [12] ap181102.html
  [13] archivepix.html
  [14] lib/apsubmit2015.html
  [15] lib/aptree.html
  [16] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  [17] calendar/allyears.html
  [18] /apod.rss
  [19] lib/edlinks.html
  [20] lib/about_apod.html
  [21] http://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=181103
  [22] ap181104.html
  [23] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  [24] http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  [25] https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  [26] http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  [27] lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  [28] https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  [29] https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  [30] https://www.nasa.gov/
  [31] https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  [32] http://www.mtu.edu/

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