# What does the man in the moon look like? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527 "2004-08-12T13:55:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/1 "2004-08-12T13:55:24Z")
Apropos of [this thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=270958), I’ve never been able to see what people mean by the “man in the moon”. Can anyone help? Which features on the moon correspond to which parts of the man? Is it just a man’s face, or a whole man? Any annotated photographs kicking around out there? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/2 "2004-08-12T13:58:15Z")
Two photos, one of the full moon and the other with an overlaid line drawing, would be nice. I haven’t seen it either. (Nor the “rabbit”.) ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/3 "2004-08-12T14:11:31Z")
GIYF: [http://www.stargazing.net/david/moon/lunarpatterns.html](http://www.stargazing.net/david/moon/lunarpatterns.html) I’ve never heard of the Rabbit in the Moon, or the Woman (see link), but I’ve always thought the Man was pretty clear. Although I don’t see the ‘nose’ that the link suggests. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/4 "2004-08-12T14:14:24Z")
This might help. Here’s the moon, overlayed with the images some people see in it. [http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/mim.htm](http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/mim.htm) ---
**Author:** ![bonzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@bonzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonzer)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/5 "2004-08-12T14:23:18Z")
There [are](http://wfmh.org.pl/thorgal/Moon/) [quite](http://www.stargazing.net/david/moon/lunarpatterns.html) a [few](http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/mim.htm) [sites](http://www.astrosociety.org/education/publications/tnl/25/face3.html) [out there](http://www.laputanlogic.com/vision/2004/04/05-0001.html) that suggest patterns, with various degrees of seriousness. Quite what the traditional pattern is is unclear and I can’t think of any particularly old visual source for the Man. FWIW, growing up in Scotland I seem to remember being told that the set of seas (Serenitatis, Tranquillitatis, etc.) on the eastern side of the face are a big hooked nose. That doesn’t correspond to any of the patterns suggested by those sites. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/6 "2004-08-12T18:37:52Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > This might help. Here’s the moon, overlayed with the images some people see in it. Boy, even with them drwan out you really need to use your imagination - that doesn’t look much like a rabbit to me… 🙂 [This picture](http://tvland.classictvhits.com/Honeymooners/Pics/Honeymooners02.JPG) shows the face of the man in the moon pretty clearly. Eric ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/7 "2004-08-12T18:57:03Z")
\ You might want to look for the fifth face on Mt. Rushmore. \ ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/8 "2004-08-12T19:10:09Z")
Apart from the Jackie Gleason version, I’ve never been able to see the MAN in the moon. The RABBIT was pointed out to me for the first time on a drunk night in Savannah, GA. I’ve not been able to NOT see it ever since. Now when I look at the moon I giggle, and people move away from me a little bit. Think [http://mercury.nineplanets.org:8011/ap/source/124-2449-54a.html](http://mercury.nineplanets.org:8011/ap/source/124-2449-54a.html) in the moon. In this picture, the bunny is facing toward 11:00, the drum is just under his chin at 10:00 and his oversized feet point upwards from about 9:00. His ears point down and to the right from his head, and there is a large impact crater where his tail is. With a little haze in the atmosphere, it almost looks like a massive earthworks project–it’s that distinct. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/9 "2004-08-12T19:11:58Z")
> [@Inigo Montoya](#): > > Think [http://mercury.nineplanets.org:8011/ap/source/124-2449-54a.html](http://mercury.nineplanets.org:8011/ap/source/124-2449-54a.html) in the moon. Ahem…Think [“Energizer Bunny”](http://mercury.nineplanets.org:8011/ap/source/124-2449-54a.html) in the moon. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/10 "2004-08-12T19:17:24Z")
**Inigo** , do you mean the same outline as the one at the bottom of [this page](http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/mim.htm)? Your description seems to suggest not, but I can’t see it any other way. ---
**Author:** ![fortytwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f9ae1b/32.png) [@fortytwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fortytwo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/11 "2004-08-12T19:34:00Z")
I think you can see something on the moon in [this picture](http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/) ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/12 "2004-08-12T20:36:39Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > **Inigo** , do you mean the same outline as the one at the bottom of [this page](http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/mim.htm)? Your description seems to suggest not, but I can’t see it any other way. Nope. ifferent. That rabbit looks like it was run over by a car. Take a look at the blank moon just above the one you sent (for the boogeyman). And look for [this little guy](http://www.energizer.com/bunny/default.asp)…only with his ears laid back a bit & his head facing left & up as in the description in my other post…once you see it you will be forever cursed. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/13 "2004-08-12T20:44:22Z")
> [@Vetch](#): > > I think you can see something on the moon in > [this picture](http://www.rathergood.com/moon_song/) NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! : searching for 1920’s tyle death ray : ---
**Author:** ![bughunter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/aeb1de/32.png) [@bughunter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bughunter)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/14 "2004-08-12T22:21:39Z")
When I was a wee child, I saw the full moon thru the window in the bathroom mirror… and was scared to death by the “Moon Mouse”… It was rather traumatic. I still remember the moment of fear. But I don’t really recall what I saw. I believe the ears were the two large circular darker regions near the top left of the full moon face (Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis), and the face of the mouse was the roughly triangular darker region extending down and right from them (Mare Vaporum and Sinus Medii together). And the body of the mouse could have been Mare Tranquilitatis. [Here](http://www.lpi.usra.edu/research/lunar_orbiter/images/aimg/iv_097_m.jpg) is a good image with the labels that point out the features, even if it’s not the best image quality. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-the-man-in-the-moon-look-like/259527/15 "2004-08-13T00:44:01Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > I’ve never been able to see what people mean by the “man in the moon”. Neither has any body else. He went inside and closed the door ages ago. Even the astornauts couldn’t find him!