October 10, 2026
Here’s to you, and all the wonder still ahead.
Birthday · October 10, 2026
A little universe, just for you
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Selected image source ↗ APOD published October 10, 2026. Credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State Univ. / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
Read the original APOD for the astronomer’s explanation and full image credits. Its text is preserved in the archive as published.
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Tidally locked in synchronous rotation, the Moon always presents its familiar nearside to denizens of planet Earth. From lunar orbit, the Moon's farside can become familiar, though. In fact this sharp picture, a mosaic from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter's wide angle camera, is centered on the lunar farside. Part of a global mosaic of over 15,000 images acquired between November 2009 and February 2011, the highest resolution version shows features at a scale of 100 meters per pixel. Surprisingly, the rough and battered surface of the farside looks very different from the nearside covered with smooth dark lunar maria. A likely explanation is that the farside crust is thicker, making it harder for molten material from the interior to flow to the surface and form dark, smooth maria.
Image credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State Univ. / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter
Explore October 10 in other years · 32 APOD entries, 1995–2026
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