                        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.

                              2023 November 12
    A mostly full moon is seen over a snowy sloping hill. An airplane and
    contrail are seen just about the Moon. Please see the explanation for
                         more detailed information.

                    Gibbous Moon beyond Swedish Mountain
                   Image Credit & Copyright: Göran Strand

   Explanation: This is a gibbous Moon. More Earthlings are familiar with
   a full moon, when the entire face of Luna is lit by the Sun, and a
   crescent moon, when only a sliver of the Moon's face is lit. When more
   than half of the Moon is illuminated, though, but still short of full
   illumination, the phase is called gibbous. Rarely seen in television
   and movies, gibbous moons are quite common in the actual night sky. The
   featured image was taken in Jämtland, Sweden near the end of 2018
   October. That gibbous moon turned, in a few days, into a crescent moon,
   and then a new moon, then back to a crescent, and a few days past that,
   back to gibbous. Setting up to capture a picturesque gibbous moonscape,
   the photographer was quite surprised to find an airplane, surely well
   in the foreground, appearing to fly past it.

                  Almost Hyperspace: Random APOD Generator
                     Tomorrow's picture: galaxy mountain
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