It's easy to forget that the universe isn't a smattering of tiny white lights in the sky, but actually a crazy place full of exploding stars, black holes and probably, aliens. As technology brings us closer to the predictions in science fiction classics, exploration (and eventually colonization) of the moon is becoming a reality. The moon has been getting some coverage in the media recently, and we're here to remind you that it's actually more than a sliver in the sky; the moon is the closest astronomical body to Earth and it's really beautiful. Here are fifteen photos and bits of information to remind you how cool the moon is.
An 81 megapixel photo of the moon.
The Wargo Crater, located on the northwest edge of the Joule crater, on the far side of the moon. This is an impact crater that was formed by an asteroid. The crater is 8.6 miles across and 3,000 feet deep.
A photo of the last stage of a Waxing Gibbous Moon, illuminated 99.9%.
The total lunar eclipse, also called a super blood wolf moon, that occurred on 20/21 January 2019.
This is the crater Giordano Bruno. It is 14 mile wide impact crater on the far side of the moon, and is a favorite of lunar scientists due it's young age (4 million years old).
A time lapse of a lunar eclipse of Earth's moon. Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes through the Earth's shadow.
A photograph of a blood moon. The blood moon occurs during a total lunar eclipse, when the moon is entirely covered by the earth's shadow and the only light that can reach comes from the edges of the Earth's atmosphere (making the moon look red).
A photo of the sunrise shadows on the Tycho crater, an impact crater on the moon that is estimated to be 108 million years old. Tycho crater is 53 miles across and 15,700 feet deep.
A picture of the luminous moon during the total lunar eclipse that took place in January 2019. Eclipses always happen in pairs, and a solar eclipse usually happens two weeks before or after a lunar eclipse.
This picture shows the most detailed photograph of the far side of the moon to date, taken by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft. The far side of the moon always faces away from Earth, and 82% of it remained unseen by humans until 1959.