#Lunar disk graph download#

The cycle begins with the waxing (growing) crescent Moon visible in the west just after sunset. The most noticed monthly variation in the Moon's appearance is the cycle of phases, caused by the changing angle of the Sun as the Moon orbits the Earth. The two extremes, called perigee (near) and apogee (far), differ by as much as 14%. The Moon also approaches and recedes from us, appearing to grow and shrink. The roll angle is given by the position angle of the axis, which is the angle of the Moon's north pole relative to celestial north. It appears to roll back and forth around the sub-Earth point. The Moon is subject to other motions as well. The sub-Earth point is also the apparent center of the Moon's disk and the location on the Moon where the Earth is directly overhead. The sub-Earth point gives the amount of libration in longitude and latitude. The word comes from the Latin for 'balance scale' (as does the name of the zodiac constellation Libra) and refers to the way such a scale tips up and down on alternating sides. When a month is compressed into 24 seconds, as it is in this animation, our changing view of the Moon makes it look like it's wobbling. Because of the tilt and shape of its orbit, we see the Moon from slightly different angles over the course of a month. The Moon always keeps the same face to us, but not exactly the same face. The pummeled, craggy landscape thrown into high relief at the terminator would be impossible to recreate in the computer without global terrain maps like those from LRO. This is especially evident in the long shadows cast near the terminator, or day-night line. Its laser altimeter ( LOLA) and camera ( LROC) are recording the rugged, airless lunar terrain in exceptional detail, making it possible to visualize the Moon with unprecedented fidelity. Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ( LRO) has been in orbit around the Moon since the summer of 2009. Until the end of 2021, the initial Dial-A-Moon image will be the frame from this animation for the current hour. The animation archived on this page shows the geocentric phase, libration, position angle of the axis, and apparent diameter of the Moon throughout the year 2021, at hourly intervals. The data in the table for the entire year can be downloaded as a JSON file or as a text file.

#Lunar disk graph download#

Hover over the image to reveal the animation frame number, which can be used to locate and download the corresponding frame from any of the animations on this page, including unlabeled high-resolution Moon images.

Version 8.0.0.0.See also the Dial-A-Moon for the May 26 total lunar eclipse.Ĭlick on the image to download a high-resolution version with feature labels and additional graphics. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: GCMD > Earth Science > Sun-earth Interactions > Solar Activity > Solar Ultraviolet Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site. View all stories where this data set is used The Moon visualization uses the latest albedo and elevation maps from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter ( LRO). Whitaker tentatively labels this Leibnitz Epsilon in his sketch. A mountain near Amundsen crater, on the western (Earthward) rim of Hédervári crater, 82.2°S 75☎.Part of the Leibnitz mountain range first identified by Johann Schröter in the late 1700s, unrelated to Leibnitz Crater on the lunar far side. Labeled Leibnitz Beta by Whitaker, this is part of the highlands adjacent to the northern rim of Nobile crater.It's also known as Mons Malapert or Malapert Peak. A mountain on the southern rim of Malapert crater, about halfway between the centers of Malapert and Haworth.Whitaker's 'M1,' a mountain on the northern rim of Cabeus, 83.4°S 33°W.In his 1954 sketch of the lunar south pole, astronomer Ewen Whitaker labeled this feature 'M3.' It's a mountain about halfway between the craters Cabeus and Drygalski, at 83.2°S 68°W.The following list corresponds to the labels in the animation, from left to right. Although all of these are well-known features, none of them have official names. By using elevation data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter to visualize the Moon from SDO's point of view, it's possible to identify these peaks. During the eclipse witnessed by SDO on October 7, 2010, the southern hemisphere of the Moon was silhouetted against the solar disk, revealing some especially prominent mountain peaks near the Moon's south pole. Just as we do on Earth, the Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite periodically crosses the Moon's shadow and experiences a solar eclipse.