Astronomy Picture of the Day

   [1]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.

                              2026 February 12
    [2]See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest
                        resolution version available.

                             The Bay of Rainbows
               Image Credit & [3]Copyright: [4]Olaf Filzinger

   Explanation: Dark, smooth regions that cover the Moon's [5]familiar
   face are called by Latin names for oceans and seas. [6]That naming
   convention is [7]historical, though it may seem a little ironic to
   denizens of the space age who recognize the Moon as a [8]mostly dry and
   airless world, and the smooth, dark areas as [9]lava-flooded impact
   basins. For example, this telescopic lunar vista, looks over the
   expanse of the northwestern Mare Imbrium, or Sea of Rains and into the
   Sinus Iridum, the [10]Bay of Rainbows. Ringed by the [11]Jura Mountains
   (montes), the bay is about 250 kilometers across. Seen after local
   sunrise, the mountains form part of the Sinus Iridum impact crater
   wall. Their rugged sunlit arc is bounded at the top by Cape
   (promontorium) Laplace reaching nearly 3,000 meters above the bay's
   surface. At the bottom of the arc is Cape Heraclides, [12]depicted by
   Giovanni Cassini in his 1679 telescope-based drawings mapping the moon
   as a [13]moon maiden seen in profile with [14]long, flowing hair.

                  Tomorrow's picture: friends of Andromeda
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    Authors & editors: [26]Robert Nemiroff ([27]MTU) & [28]Jerry Bonnell
                                 ([29]UMCP)
          NASA Official: Amber Straughn [30]Specific rights apply.
            [31]NASA Web Privacy, [32]Accessibility, [33]Notices;
                A service of: [34]ASD at [35]NASA / [36]GSFC,
                         [37]NASA Science Activation
                           & [38]Michigan Tech. U.

References

   1. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
   2. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2602/APOD-Sinus-Iridum-Olaf-Filzinger.jpg
   3. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
   4. https://www.sternwarte-hofheim.de/galerie/filzinger/index.html
   5. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap250720.html
   6. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_mare
   7. https://www.lindahall.org/experience/digital-exhibitions/mapping-the-moon/
   8. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap220410.html
   9. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/lunar-volcanism/
  10. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinus_Iridum
  11. https://planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov/Feature/4011
  12. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap030619.html
  13. https://www.astronomy.com/observing/sinus-iridum-stirs-the-imagination/
  14. https://stargazerslounge.com/topic/374468-moon-maiden/
  15. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260211.html
  16. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/archivepix.html
  17. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/apsubmit2015.html
  18. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/aptree.html
  19. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search
  20. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/calendar/allyears.html
  21. https://apod.com/feed.rss
  22. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/edlinks.html
  23. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html
  24. https://asterisk.apod.com/discuss_apod.php?date=260212
  25. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap260213.html
  26. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/faculty/Nemiroff.html
  27. http://www.phy.mtu.edu/
  28. https://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/htmltest/jbonnell/www/bonnell.html
  29. http://www.astro.umd.edu/
  30. https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/lib/about_apod.html#srapply
  31. https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/HP_Privacy.html
  32. https://www.nasa.gov/general/accessibility/
  33. https://www.nasa.gov/privacy/
  34. https://astrophysics.gsfc.nasa.gov/
  35. https://www.nasa.gov/
  36. https://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/
  37. https://science.nasa.gov/learners
  38. http://www.mtu.edu/