Messier Craters in Stereo (May 9, 2026)
May 9, 2026 6:11am
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2026-05-09 is titled "Messier Craters in Stereo." The release is published as a image and pairs imagery with an official s...
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2026-05-09 is titled "Messier Craters in Stereo." The release is published as a image and pairs imagery with an official science explainer from NASA. The post highlights a specific observable scene and provides technical context for why the view matters.
5-Second Takeaway
NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day for 2026-05-09 is titled "Messier Craters in Stereo." The release is published as a image and pairs imagery with an official science explainer from NASA.
Why This Matters
The post highlights a specific observable scene and provides technical context for why the view matters.
What Changed
- NASA published this Astronomy Picture of the Day on 2026-05-09.
- The item title is Messier Craters in Stereo and the media type is image.
- The image and caption describe observable features highlighted in this release.
- NASA's accompanying explanation provides observation context and interpretation notes.
- Caption excerpt: Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky are associated with the name of astronomer Charles Messier from his famous 18th century catalog. His name is also given to these two large and remarkable craters on the Moon. Standouts in the dark, smooth lunar Sea of Fertility or Mare Fecunditatis, Messier (left) and Messier A have dimensions of 15 by 8 and 16 by 11 kilometers respectively. Their elongated shapes are explained by the extremely shallow-angle trajectory followed by an impactor, moving left to right, that gouged out the craters. The shallow impact also resulted in two bright rays of material extending along the surface to the right, beyond the picture. Intended to be viewed with red/blue glasses (red for the left eye), this striking stereo picture of the crater pair was recently created from high resolution scans of two images (AS11-42-6304, AS11-42-6305) taken du
- Full mission and image details are available in the official APOD entry.
- NASA APOD page: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/MessierCrater3d_vantuyne1024c.jpg
- NASA open API portal: https://api.nasa.gov/
Key Facts
- NASA published this Astronomy Picture of the Day on 2026-05-09.
- The item title is Messier Craters in Stereo and the media type is image.
- The image and caption describe observable features highlighted in this release.
- NASA's accompanying explanation provides observation context and interpretation notes.
Key Numbers
- NASA published this Astronomy Picture of the Day on 2026-05-09.
- Caption excerpt: Many bright nebulae and star clusters in planet Earth's sky are associated with the name of astronomer Charles Messier from his famous 18th century catalog. His name is also given to these two large and remarkable craters on the Moon. Standouts in the dark, smooth lunar Sea of Fertility or Mare Fecunditatis, Messier (left) and Messier A have dimensions of 15 by 8 and 16 by 11 kilometers respectively. Their elongated shapes are explained by the extremely shallow-angle trajectory followed by an impactor, moving left to right, that gouged out the craters. The shallow impact also resulted in two bright rays of material extending along the surface to the right, beyond the picture. Intended to be viewed with red/blue glasses (red for the left eye), this striking stereo picture of the crater pair was recently created from high resolution scans of two images (AS11-42-6304, AS11-42-6305) taken du
- NASA APOD page: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/image/2605/MessierCrater3d_vantuyne1024c.jpg