NASA Photo of the Day

December 19:

A Colorful Moon
Image Credit & Copyright: László Francsics Explanation: The Moonis normally seen in subtle shades of grey or yellow. But small, measurable color differenceshave been greatly exaggerated to make this telescopic, multicolored, moonscape captured during the Moon's full phase. The different colors are recognized to correspond to real differences in the chemical makeup of the lunar surface. Blue hues reveal titanium richareas while orange and purple colors show regions relatively poor in titanium and iron. The familiarSea of Tranquility, or Mare Tranquillitatis, is the blue area in the upper right corner of the frame. White lines radiate across the orange-hued southern lunar highlands from 85 kilometer wide ray crater Tychoat bottom left. Above it, darker rays from crater Copernicusextend into the Sea of Rains (Mare Imbrium) at the upper left. Calibrated by rock samplesfrom the Apollo missions, similar multicolor images from spacecrafthave been used to explore the Moon's global surface composition.