Look up tonight. Something odd is happening.
You’ll see giant “X” and “V” shapes stamped on the moon’s surface. It’s happening May 23 to May 24.
A trick of the light, really. Sunlight hits broken crater rims right where night meets day. It creates this clair-obscur effect. That’s a French term. Clair for light. Obscur for shadow. Our brains love connecting dots, so we see letters. Just pareidolia on a celestial scale.
The moon changes its face every night. The sun moves. Shadows stretch and shrink across mountains and ravines. This time, they align to spell something recognizable.
When to watch
Best window is around the first quarter phase on May 23. The moon looks like a half-circle, right side bright, left side dark.
Visibility peaks from 6 p.m. EDT to early hours of May 24.
Why? The shapes sit on the terminator. That’s the line separating lunar day from night. Shadows are longest there. Contrast is highest. If you wait until the sun fully illuminates the area, the illusion vanishes. Flat lighting kills the 3D effect.
Where to look
Don’t just stare with the naked eye. Use binoculars or a small telescope. You need resolution to see the geometry.
- The “V”: Look between Sinus Medii and Mare Vaporum. It’s about 10 degrees above the equator. Close to the terminator. The shape forms because sunlight glances off the shattered rim of Ukart crater, plus other scattered debris. It catches the light just right.
- The “X”: Go lower. Drop 25 degrees below the equatorial line. You’re looking at a mess of impact sites—Purbach, Blanchinus, La Caille. Their broken rims intersect. The shadows make it look like a distinct letter.
Think about how we project meaning onto voids. Is it magic? Or just geometry and perception playing tricks?
If you have a camera, grab it. You don’t need pro gear to snap a decent shot of this. Just get the focus right. The shapes won’t stay sharp forever.
They’re there tonight. Then gone. Just until the angle shifts again.
