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This vibrant photograph, taken in December 1968, showcases a nearly full moon as seen from the Apollo 8 spacecraft positioned above 70 degrees east longitude. The image was taken by the crew of the Apollo 8 mission and was later published by the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, Texas.
To fully appreciate the image, it should be held with the moon's dark portion to the left. The circular, dark-colored area near the center is the Mare Crisium, which lies near the eastern edge of the moon as viewed from Earth. Closer to the terminator (the boundary between the illuminated and dark parts of the moon), the circular mare visible is the Mare Nectaris.
The large, irregular lunar maria are Tranquillitatis and Fecunditatis. The left side of the picture shows the terminator cutting across the Mare Tranquillitatis and the highlands to the south. Most of the right half of the picture features the less-frequently observed lunar far side.
The prominent, dark-colored crater Tsiolkovsky is visible near the limb at the lower right of the image. Two significant bright rays emanate from two large craters, one located north of Tsiolkovsky and the other near the limb in the upper half of the image. These rayed craters did not stand out in Lunar Orbiter photography due to the low sun elevations when those images were captured.
The crater Langrenus is situated near the center of the picture at the eastern edge of Mare Fecunditatis. Although the lunar surface appears strikingly colored in this print, it's worth noting that the colors on the moon's surface are likely less pronounced than depicted in this photograph.
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