While space explorers often set their sights far out in the Solar System — or even beyond — we can’t forget the majesty of our next-door neighbor. The Moon, a mere three days’ flight away from Earth during the Apollo years, is an easy beacon in the darkness for anybody to observe. Even without a telescope.
Lately, several Universe Today readers have contributed awesome shots to our Flickr pool showing some close-ups of this barren world. Take the panorama above by Roger Hutchinson, for example, showing the view along the terminator (darkness-light line). And we’ve collected some more stunners below.
![Copernicus, a huge crater near the Moon's equator, captured on Dec. 4, 2014. Credit: Ralph Smyth](https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/15918848636_ebaf706a6c_z-580x414.jpg)
![Tycho, a crater that dominates the lunar southern highlands, on Dec. 2, 2014. Credit: John Brady](https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/15751595258_32ab3382bd_z-580x435.jpg)
![The Mare Nubium region on the Moon, imaged Dec. 2, 2014. Credit: Paul M. Hutchinson](https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/15750330450_b96381b13e_z-580x384.jpg)
![The waxing gibbous moon captured on Dec. 3, 2014 from Wednesbury, West Midlands. Credit: II AsH II](https://www.universetoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/15940735685_df9a8450a7_z-580x487.jpg)