The Golden Handle is a visual effect at the

lunar terminator A terminator or twilight zone is a moving line that divides the daylit side and the dark night side of a planetary body. The terminator is defined as the locus of points on a planet or moon where the line through the center of its parent star is ...

. About 10 to 11 days after

new moon In astronomy, the new moon is the first lunar phase, when the Moon and Sun have the same ecliptic longitude. At this phase, the lunar disk is not visible to the naked eye, except when it is silhouetted against the Sun during a solar eclipse. ...

the valley of the rainbow bay (

Sinus Iridum Sinus Iridum (Latin ''sinus īridum'' "Bay of Rainbows") is a plain of basaltic lava that forms a northwestern extension to the Mare Imbrium on Earth's moon. It is surrounded from the northeast to the southwest by the Montes Jura range. The pro ...

) is still in shadow, while the mountain peaks of the adjacent

Montes Jura Montes Jura is a mountain range in the northwest part of the near side of the Moon. The selenographic coordinates of this range are 47.1° N 34.0° W. It has a diameter of 422 km, with mountains rising to approximately 3800m above the level o ...

are already reached by sunlight due to their height of up to 2700 meters. Because of its concise shape, reminiscent of a

handle A handle is a part of, or attachment to, an object that allows it to be grasped and manipulated by hand. The design of each type of handle involves substantial ergonomic issues, even where these are dealt with intuitively or by following tra ...

, and the yellowish light reflected from the moon, this formation received the name "Golden Handle". The Golden Handle is visible once within a month for several hours. It can be observed with

binoculars Binoculars or field glasses are two refracting telescopes mounted side-by-side and aligned to point in the same direction, allowing the viewer to use both eyes (binocular vision) when viewing distant objects. Most binoculars are sized to be held ...

and can be taken by

camera A camera is an Optics, optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), ...

s with

telephoto lens A telephoto lens, in photography and cinematography, is a specific type of a long-focus lens in which the physical length of the lens is shorter than the focal length. This is achieved by incorporating a special lens group known as a ''telephoto ...

es. Goldener Henkel Februar 2017.jpg, 6 February 2017 22:27 MEZ (UTC+1) Goldener.Henkel.9.6.2022.P1139248.jpg, 9 June 2022 22:25 MESZ (UTC+2) Mare_Imbrium_-_Sinus_Iridum.jpg, 1 April 2012 19:30 UTC−3 mit benachbarten Mondstrukturen

External links

{{Commons category, Golden handle
Waxing moon with Golden Handle
EarthSky.org
Golden Handle
AstroGeo.ca

References

Lunar science