The Old Moon in the Young Moon's Arms
Image Credit &
Copyright:
Stan Honda
Explanation:
Tonight the Moon is
young again,
but this stunning image of a young Moon near the western horizon
was taken just after sunset on October 10.
On the lunar disk
Earthshine, earthlight
reflected from the Moon's night side,
is embraced by
the slim, sunlit crescent just over 2 days old.
Along the horizon fading colors of twilight silhouette
the radio telescope dish antennas of the
Very Large Array,
New Mexico, planet Earth.
The view from the Moon would be stunning, too.
When the Moon appears in Earth's sky as a slender crescent,
a dazzlingly bright, nearly full Earth would be seen
from the lunar surface.
A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight
reflected by Earth's oceans in turn illuminating
the Moon's dark surface, was written 500 years ago by
Leonardo da Vinci.
Source: NASA