HUBBLE THURSDAY

(The "Colorful Moon" composite, explanation below. Click on image to enlarge.)

Every Thursday, I post a very large photograph of some corner of space. Usually these photos are captured by the Hubble Space Telescope and available online from the picture album at HubbleSite. Today, however, the image above is from Astronomy Picture of the Day, authored and edited by Robert Nemiroff (MTU) & Jerry Bonnell (USRA).

The explanation of this photograph is "The crazy, patchwork appearance of the false-color image makes this almost full view of the Moon's familiar near side look very strange. The Sea of Tranquillity (Mare Tranquillitatis) is the bright blue area at right, the Ocean of Storms (Oceanus Procellarum) is the extensive blue and orange area on the left, and white lines radiate from the crater Tycho at bottom center. Recorded in 1992 by the Galileo spacecraft en route to Jupiter, the picture is a mosaic of 15 images taken through three color filters. The image data were combined in an exaggerated color scheme to emphasize composition differences - blue hues reveal titanium rich areas while orange and purple colors show regions relatively poor in titanium and iron. Multicolor images exploring the Moon's global surface composition were made in 1994 by the Clementine spacecraft."

THE VOYAGE OF THE MOON

(by Donovan. When I was 13, I was wild about Donovan and even wrote him a fan letter. This song of his was on a Mary Hopkin album that I played constantly throughout my adolescence. Mary Hopkin sang this song on television just hours before Neil Armstrong took the first human-on-the-man step.)

The moon is like a boat, my love,
Of lemon peel afloat, my love,
And with a sail of gauze, my love,
She seems to slightly pause
Upon her silent way,
while on her silent way.

I see her pearly decks, my love,
Set in with diamond specks, my love,
I see her pearly mast, my love
Far from her seashell past
And gently does she sway
While on her starry way.

Of silk they have been spun, my love,
Her ropes that limply run, my love
Down to her carved prow, my love,
Down to her mermaid prow
And gently does she sway
while on her starry way.

She seems to linger long, my love,
As if spelled by a song, my love
But not, she tarries not, my love
Her journey unforgot
She makes her starry way,
She makes her starry way

All in the Sea of Sky, my love,
The moonships sail and fly, my love,
Though many are their kind, my love,
Though all need but one wind
To make their starry ways,
To make their starry ways.

And there will come a time, my love,
O may it be in mine, my love,
When men will proudly rise, my love,
And board to sail the skies
Moonships from all the spheres
Moonships from all the spheres.

The men be bathed in light, my love,
The women clothed in white, my love,
All in that wondrous fleet, my love,
As each the other meet
Will smile and softly sing,
Will smile and softly sing.

And on some distant sand, my love,
The ships will gently land, my love.
Fair folk will meet them there, my love,
With golden flowing hair
And great will be their joy,
And great will be their joy.

The moon is like a boat, my love,
Of lemon peel afloat, my love,
And with a sail of gauze, my love,
She seems to slightly pause...

Mary Hopkin singing this song as it is on my album -- stills, no live video.