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.

June 22, 1996

North to the Moon's Pole
Credit: The Galileo Project, JPL,and NASA,

Explanation: This image is from the voyage of the intrepid Galileo spacecraft as it passed above the Moon's north pole on its long journey to Jupiter. It was made over 60 years after Admiral Byrd became the first to fly over the Earth's north pole. Within a superposed frame of lattitude and longitude lines much of the Moon's familiar face, dominated by smooth dark mare, is brightly lit. Near the pole itself, the harsh shadows reveal a rugged, cratered lunarscape.

Tomorrow's picture: Tycho's Supernova Remnant in X-ray


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Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (GMU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA).
NASA Technical Rep.: Sherri Calvo. Specific rights apply.
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