The Moona Lisa

The Moona Lisa

Image Credit &
Copyright:

Gianni Sarcone
and
Marcella Giulia Pace

Explanation:

Only natural colors
of the Moon in planet Earth’s sky appear in this creative visual presentation.

Arranged
as pixels
in a framed image, the lunar disks were photographed at different times.

Their varying hues are ultimately due to reflected sunlight
affected by changing atmospheric conditions and the
alignment
geometry of Moon, Earth, and Sun.

Here, the darkest lunar disks are the
colors of earthshine.

A description of earthshine, in terms of sunlight reflected by Earth’s
oceans illuminating the Moon’s dark surface, was written over 500 years
ago by Leonardo da Vinci.

But stand farther back from your screen or just shift your gaze to the
smaller versions of the image.

You might also see one of da Vinci’s most famous
works of art.