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.
2023 October 21
Image Credit & Copyright: Marcella Giulia Pace
Explanation: Half way between New Moon and Full Moon is the Moon's first quarter phase. That's a quarter of the way around its moonthly orbit. At the first quarter phase, half the Moon's visible side is illuminated by sunlight. For the Moon's third quarter phase, half way between Full Moon and New Moon, sunlight illuminates the other half of the visible lunar disk. At both first and third quarter phases, the terminator, or shadow line separating the lunar night and day, runs down the middle. Near the terminator, long shadows bring lunar craters and mountains in to sharp relief, making the quarter phases a good time to observe the Moon. But in case you missed some, all the quarter phases of the Moon and their calendar dates during 2022 can be found in this well-planned array of telephoto images. Of course, you can observe a first quarter Moon tonight.
Tomorrow's picture: ghostly northern lights
Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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