![]() ![]() ![]() The full Moon rises at sunset and is high in the sky at midnight. By first quarter, the Moon is high in the sky at sunset and sets around midnight. The cycle begins with the waxing (growing) crescent Moon visible in the west just after sunset. The most noticed monthly variation in the Moon's appearance is the cycle of phases, caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon orbits the Earth. The two extremes, called perigee (near) and apogee (far), differ by as much as 14%. The Moon also approaches and recedes from us, appearing to grow and shrink. The roll angle is given by the position angle of the axis, which is the angle of the Moon's north pole relative to celestial north. It appears to roll back and forth around the sub-Earth point. The Moon is subject to other motions as well. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The word comes from the Latin for "balance scale" (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. When a month is compressed into 24 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. The pummeled, craggy landscape thrown into high relief at the terminator would be impossible to recreate in the computer without global terrain maps like those from LRO. This is especially evident in the long shadows cast near the terminator, or day-night line. Its laser altimeter ( LOLA) and camera ( LROC) are recording the rugged, airless lunar terrain in exceptional detail, making it possible to visualize the Moon with unprecedented fidelity. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ( LRO) has been in orbit around the Moon since the summer of 2009. Until the end of 2021, the initial Dial-A-Moon image will be the frame from this animation for the current hour. The animation archived on this page shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2021, at hourly intervals. The data in the table for the entire year can be downloaded as a JSON file or as a text file. Hover over the image to reveal the animation frame number, which can be used to locate and download the corresponding frame from any of the animations on this page, including unlabeled high-resolution Moon images. The following table lists the ephemerides of The Moon computed for the past and next 7 days, with a 24 hours interval.See also the Dial-A-Moon for the May 26 total lunar eclipse.Ĭlick on the image to download a high-resolution version with feature labels and additional graphics. Source: JPL Small-Body Database Physical Parameter The following shows the known values of the most important physical parameters of The Moon. Today the Moon is in Waxing Crescent phase and is currently in the constellation of The first human landing on the Moon was in 1969 during NASA's Apollo 11 mission, and since then, several missions have been sent to study the Moon's geology, surface features, and potential for future human exploration and colonization. The Moon has been used as a celestial body for human exploration and scientific study. It has a day length of 29.5 Earth days, which is also the length of its orbital period around Earth. The Moon has no atmosphere and no magnetic field, which means that it is exposed to the solar wind and cosmic rays. The Moon's surface is covered in craters, mountains, and plains, with the largest feature being the Imbrium Basin. It has a diameter of 3,474 kilometers and a mass of 7.34 x 10^22 kilograms, making it about 1/81st the mass of Earth. The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and is the fifth-largest satellite in the solar system.
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