                        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.

                                2024 July 20

                         Apollo 11 Landing Panorama
                Image Credit: Neil Armstrong, Apollo 11, NASA

   Explanation: Have you seen a panorama from another world lately?
   Assembled from high-resolution scans of the original film frames, this
   one sweeps across the magnificent desolation of the Apollo 11 landing
   site on the Moon's Sea of Tranquility. The images were taken 55 years
   ago by Neil Armstrong looking out his window on the Eagle Lunar Module
   shortly after the July 20, 1969 landing. The frame at the far left
   (AS11-37-5449) is the first picture taken by a person on another world.
   Thruster nozzles can be seen in the foreground on the left (toward the
   south), while at the right (west), the shadow of the Eagle is visible.
   For scale, the large, shallow crater on the right has a diameter of
   about 12 meters. Frames taken from the Lunar Module windows about an
   hour and a half after landing, before walking on the lunar surface,
   were intended to document the landing site in case an early departure
   was necessary.

                         Tomorrow's picture: hoodoo
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       Authors & editors: Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (UMCP)
            NASA Official: Amber Straughn Specific rights apply.
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                      A service of: ASD at NASA / GSFC,
                           NASA Science Activation
                             & Michigan Tech. U.

