midnight
As we now rapidly approached the moon the change which the appearance of its surface underwent was no less wonderful than that which the surface of the earth had presented in the reverse order while we were receding from it . From a pale silver orb , shining with comparative faintness among the stars , it slowly assumed the appearance of a vast mountainous desert . As we drew nearer its colors became more pronounced ; the great flat regions appeared darker ; the mountain peaks shone more brilliantly . The huge chasms seemed bottomless and blacker than midnight . Gradually separate mountains appeared . What seemed like expanses of snow and immense glaciers streaming down their sides sparkled with great brilliancy in the perpendicular rays of the sun . Our motion had now assumed the aspect of falling .