The Moon and...is that Santa!?

Now that's interesting Paul, I've never really noticed this woman on the moon before but have always noticed this man on the moon.
farm4.static.flickr.com/3174/3112197872_184dd507dd_o.jpg
Sorry for doctoring your image Frank, its just that its real obvious in it to me.
Kinda reminds me of someone wearing big dark sunglasses. :silly:

BTW, a nice image.
Anyone else done out their Santa list yet ???

Too much 'mind altering substance abuse' evident in this thread:)

Nice image Frank. Very atmospheric.

In April 2007 the SAC weekly astronomy article in the Limerick Leader was on this very topic and two small Moon images (just like the ones mentioned here) were included with the following script -- outlining the man in one and the woman in the other.
The following was the script with folklore reference.

Woman in the Moon

As our companion in space, staying together with us in our journey round the Sun, the Moon is the closest of all natural astronomical bodies. At the dawn of human history such facts where unknown, and Stone Age men must have gazed in awe and wondered what it was. For its size and brightness they instinctively regarded it with importance, which for many races was second only to the Sun. The Moon lies on average 250 million miles away (because its orbit is elliptical) and no human eye can make out much detail as such a distance, which allows the blurred landscape to form a likeness in our minds. Moon-myths probably go back as far as man himself, with some charming old stories, and almost every country has its own legends. Most of us have heard of ‘The Man in the Moon’, visible with a little imagination, as a huge face when the Moon is near or at Full phase. This face is still repeated in children’s stories today. Many myths are remarkably similar when it comes to this story, ranging from Western Europe to the South Pacific and each place him as a thief. In a German tale for example, the old man was a villager who was caught stealing cabbages and was placed on the moon as a warning to others. Viewed from Earth the face is roughly formed by Mare Imbrium (left eye) Mares Serenitatis and Tranquillitatis (right eye), the Apennine and Haemus mountains, and Mare Vaporium (nose), and finally Mare Nubium (mouth). But where is the woman?

Those features that give rise to the Man’s face have been highlighted below, but at next full Moon, tilt your head to the right and using a little more imagination, you may see a (Victorian dressed) woman sitting in a rocking chair. Oceanus Procellarum to the far left forms the chair and her dress, Mare Imbrium the back of the chair, Mares Serenitatis and Tranquillitatis her body, and Mare Fecunditatis to the far right, her head with a big bonnet. It appears she is reading (Mare Nectaris being the book), - perhaps a recipe for cabbages!

Visit www.shannonsideastronomy.com

Thanks for that Conn!
I'd actually forgotten about that article.
:silly:

Now that I'm letting my imagination run riot I'm
seeing all kinds of things! - not just faces!!