                        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.

                               2021 October 16

                               The Moona Lisa
      Image Credit & Copyright: Gianni Sarcone and Marcella Giulia Pace

   Explanation: Only natural colors of the Moon in planet Earth's sky
   appear in this creative visual presentation. Arranged as pixels in a
   framed image, the lunar disks were photographed at different times.
   Their varying hues are ultimately due to reflected sunlight affected by
   changing atmospheric conditions and the alignment geometry of Moon,
   Earth, and Sun. Here, the darkest lunar disks are the colors of
   earthshine. A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected
   by Earth's oceans illuminating the Moon's dark surface, was written
   over 500 years ago by Leonardo da Vinci. But stand farther back from
   your monitor or just shift your gaze to the smaller versions of the
   image. You might also see one of da Vinci's most famous works of art.

                Tonight: International Observe the Moon Night
             Tomorrow's picture: looking through gravity's lens
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Phillip Newman Specific rights apply.
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                             & Michigan Tech. U.


