chrisbevan

By chrisbevan

Crescent


In astronomy, a crescent is the shape of the lit side of a spherical body (most notably the Moon) that appears to be less than half illuminated by the Sun as seen by the viewer. Mathematically, assuming the terminator lies on a great circle, such a crescent will actually be the figure bounded by a half-ellipse and a half-circle, with the major axis of the ellipse coinciding with a diameter of the semicircle. The direction in which the points at the intersection of the two arcs face indicates whether a crescent is waxing (also young, or increasing) or waning (also old, or decreasing). Eastward pointing [ to the left, as seen from the Northern hemisphere] indicate a waxing crescent, whereas westward pointing [to the right, as seen from the Northern hemisphere] indicate a waning crescent.
[Wikipedia]

This however is Lansdown Crescent,
equally Celestial.

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