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Credit & Copyright: Darya Kawa Mirza
Explanation:
Our Moon doesn't really look like this.
Earth's Moon, Luna, doesn't naturally show this rich texture,
and its colors are more subtle.
But this digital creation is based on reality.
The featured image is a composite of multiple images and
enhanced to bring up real surface features.
The enhancements, for example, show more clearly craters that illustrate the
tremendous bombardment our Moon has been through during its
4.6-billion-year history.
The dark areas, called
maria,
have fewer craters and were once seas of
molten lava.
Additionally, the image
colors, although based on the
moon's real composition, are changed and exaggerated.
Here, a blue hue indicates a region that is iron rich,
while orange indicates a slight excess of aluminum.
Although the
Moon has shown the
same side to the Earth for billions of years,
modern technology is allowing humanity to learn
much more about it -- and how it
affects the Earth.
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NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: LHEA at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U.
Based on Astronomy Picture
Of the Day
Publications with keywords: Moon
Publications with words: Moon
See also: