July 19, 2020
On your birthday, photons that left distant stars before humans walked the Earth finally completed their journey. You began yours.
Rotating Moon from LRO
Birthday · July 19, 2020
A little universe, just for you
Your date.
Ready to give.
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APOD published July 19, 2020 · Video still. Full image credits are on the original APOD entry below. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
No one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this. That's because the Earth's moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us only one side. Given modern digital technology, however, combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high resolution virtual Moon rotation movie has been composed. The featured time-lapse video starts with the standard Earth view of the Moon. Quickly, though, Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotates into view just below the equator. From an entire lunar month condensed into 24 seconds, the video clearly shows that the Earth side of the Moon contains an abundance of dark lunar maria, while the lunar far side is dominated by bright lunar highlands. Currently, over 19 new missions to the Moon are under active development from eight different countries, most of which have expected launch dates in the next three years. Notable Images of Comet NEOWISE Submitted to APOD: July || 18 || 17 || 16 || 15 || 14 || 13 || 12 || 11 || 10 & earlier ||