Astronomy Picture of the Day

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

                               2020 February 6

                             Southern Moonscape
                     Image Credit & Copyright: Tom Glenn

   Explanation: The Moon's south pole is near the top of this detailed
   telescopic view. Looking across the rugged southern lunar highlands it
   was captured from southern California, planet Earth. At the Moon's
   third quarter phase the lunar terminator, the sunset shadow line, is
   approaching from the left. The scene's foreshortened perspective
   heightens the impression of a dense field of craters and makes the
   craters themselves appear more oval shaped close to the lunar limb.
   Below and left of center is sharp-walled crater Tycho, 85 kilometers in
   diameter. Young Tycho's central peak is still in sunlight, but casts a
   long shadow across the crater floor. The large prominent crater to the
   south (above) Tycho is Clavius. Nearly 231 kilometers in diameter its
   walls and floor are pocked with smaller, more recent, overlaying impact
   craters. Mountains visible along the lunar limb at the top can rise
   about 6 kilometers or so above the surrounding terrain.

                     Tomorrow's picture: pixels in space
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.

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