Terminator Moon: A Moonscape of Shadows

What’s different about this Moon? It’s the terminator s. In the featured image, you can’t directly see any terminator — the line that divides the light of day from the dark of night. That’s because the featured image is a digital composite of many near-terminator lunar strips over a full Moon. Terminator regions show the longest and most prominent shadow s — shadows which, by their contrast and length, allow a flat photograph to appear three-dimensional. The overlay images were taken over two weeks in early April. Many of the Moon’s craters stand out because of the shadow s they all cast to the right. The image shows in graphic detail that the darker regions known as maria are not just darker than the rest of the Moon — they are also flatter.

Dial-A-Moon: Find the Moon phase on your birthday this year