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Bruce Murray Space Image Library

A Squished Moon

A Squished Moon
A Squished Moon This series of images of the Moon taken by astronauts aboard the International Space Station shows a mind-bending (and light-bending) atmospheric effect. These images were taken as the Moon “set,” approaching the Earth’s horizon from the vantage point of the ISS. As the Moon nears the Earth its light passes through more and more of the Earth’s atmosphere. This causes the light to bend, and because this happens more for the side of the Moon closer to the Earth’s horizon, it makes the Moon appear vertically squashed. NASA