Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres has been heavily linked with a move to Manchester United this summer thanks to his working relationship with Ruben Amorim
Sporting Lisbon striker Viktor Gyokeres(Image: Gualter Fatia/Getty Images)
Manchester United may have missed out on the signing of Viktor Gyokeres this summer with news that he has reportedly reached a verbal agreement with Arsenal.
United are keen to add at least one striker to their ranks this summer and Sporting’s Gyokeres has been heavily linked with Old Trafford. Head coach Ruben Amorim signed the Swede from Coventry City in 2023 and managed to forge him into a prolific striker in Portugal before exiting the club in November 2024.
At the end of last season, Gyokeres had managed to bag a whopping 97 goals in 102 appearances for Sporting. Considering the lack of goals in the United squad at present, it was seen as a logical step for the Reds to go after the 27-year-old.
However, it appears the race for Gyokeres could have been run. Along with United, Arsenal have been heavily invested in the Swede and their interest dates back further than the Reds.
Like Amorim, Mikel Arteta has been keen to strengthen his attack having been left with no recognised centre-forwards for large parts of the second portion of the season. According to L’Equipe, the Gunners are closing in on rectifying that as they near a verbal agreement with Gyokeres’ team over personal terms for the striker.
Journalist Sacha Tavolieri has gone a step further though and claims that Arsenal have an agreement over a five-year deal with Gyokeres’ agent and that the north London club are now turning their focus to negotiations with Sporting over a transfer fee.
The Portuguese club have already confirmed that they will not hold out for £85m this summer but they will not sell their talisman for as little as £60m.
Ironically, should Arsenal get the signing of Gyokeres over the line, the centre-forward could make his Premier League debut for the Gunners against United at Old Trafford.
Here at The Manchester Evening News, we are dedicated to bringing you the best Manchester United coverage and analysis.
Make sure you don’t miss out on the latest United news by joining our free WhatsApp group. You can get all the breaking news and best analysis sent straight to your phone by clicking here to subscribe.
You can also subscribe to our free newsletter service. Click here to be sent all the day’s biggest stories.
And, finally, if you would rather listen to our expert analysis then make sure to check out our Manchester is Red podcast, featuring The Samuel Luckhurst Show and The Midweek Debate. Our shows are available on all podcast platforms, including Spotify and Apple Podcasts, and you can also watch along on YouTube.
When Linus Torvalds posted his now-legendary 1991 announcement about a “hobby” operating system kernel, no one would have predicted that Linux would become the backbone of modern computing. In a speech at the Open-Source Summit, North America, Jonathan Corbet, executive editor of LWN and longtime kernel developer, recounted the Linux kernel’s remarkable journey, highlighting its disruptive beginnings, its unique development model, and the challenges that have shaped its evolution.
Linux just keeps growing
Today, as Corbet said, “We are up to just over 40 million lines of code at this point. It’s fair to say that, indeed, Linux has become big and professional.” The first thing he noted was that, no matter what else was happening in the world, Linux had just kept growing.
Also: 7 things every Linux beginner should know – before downloading their first distro
In a graph of Linux kernel growth, Corbet observed, “If you look at this line, it’s really monotonically upward. It’s always increasing. We’re always building on the kernel, despite the fact that a lot of things were happening in the world over these three decades. We had the dotcom crash in 2000. We had the SCO lawsuit. In 2008, there was the global economic crisis. And of course, we had the COVID pandemic. But you don’t really see an effect on the development speed of Linux from any of these events. We have somehow managed to sustain everything we can do despite all the stuff that has happened in the world.”
How has Linux managed this?
Corbet believed that what has set Linux apart is its radical openness.
Unlike the centralized, exclusive development of other Unix-like systems, now largely forgotten, Linux welcomed contributions from anyone willing to submit code. This openness, combined with the GNU General Public License (GPL) 2.0, fostered a unified codebase and prevented fragmentation. “Anybody could be a part of it,” Corbet emphasized, “and as a result, Linux developed a community that you didn’t find in other open projects at that time.” You really won’t find it anywhere else, even now.
Also: This city is dumping Microsoft Office and Windows for OnlyOffice and Linux – here’s why
Of course, for years, no one took Linux seriously. It was dismissed as a toy in an era when Unix fragmentation and the rise of Windows NT dominated industry thinking. The prevailing wisdom held that only large corporations could build operating system kernels, leaving little attention for a community-driven initiative. Yet, as Corbet noted, Linux exemplified Clayton Christensen’s concept of disruptive innovation: a technology dismissed as inferior that quietly matures until it overtakes established players.
Another factor, Corbet explained, was that in the early 1990s, the BSD Unix systems were much more mature than Linux; they were capable of doing more and were more usable. Still, their permissive BSD license model led to a whole bunch of forks. None of them gained the critical mass in terms of either the development community or adoption to dominate Linux.
Instead, the Linux kernel stayed one thing. It stayed together, in part because its GPLv2 copyright policy meant everybody retains their copyright under the same license. It means that nobody owns Linux, or everybody owns Linux. It is not a company project. It’s not something somebody can pull out from under you, and that makes a huge difference.
Also: Want to ditch Windows? This Linux distro makes that transition easy
Linux was also successful, Corbet believes, because “Linus had no pride. He threw open the door to everybody, and anybody who could send him a patch could participate. And so we’d take it; we’d throw away a lot of stuff. It didn’t work. It seemed wasteful in ways, but there were no boundaries. Anybody could be a part of it. It was a lot more fun, and it was a lot more open.”
You can see how that approach was successful, he added, after the late 1990s when “Linux caught the attention of industry giants. IBM’s 2001 billion-dollar investment marked a turning point, shifting perceptions from skepticism to serious engagement. The dot-com boom fueled a Linux bubble, with startups and venture capital flooding the ecosystem. Yet, when the bubble burst, kernel development continued unabated, underscoring Linux’s independence from any single corporate patron.”
Corbet continued, “Much of the commercial structure around Linux self-destructed over the course of about a month in 2000, but development of the Linux kernel did not slow down. Nothing really changed there, which was perhaps the first object lesson that Linux is truly independent of its corporate patrons.”
Linux’s modular approach
Another reason Linux has been successful is its modular approach. By focusing solely on the kernel while leaving user-space utilities and distributions to others, it accelerated innovation and allowed parallel experimentation. Corbet cited the emergence of Beowulf clusters in the late 1990s. By stringing together commodity PCs running Linux to create supercomputers, Linux began its rise as the only supercomputer operating system and the dominant operating system of today’s data centers and clouds.
Also: I put Linux on this 8-inch mini laptop, and unlocked a new way of computing
Corbet remembered, “I worked in a supercomputing center when this was happening, and I went to them and I said, ‘Hey, we should really be looking at this.’ And they said, “No, no, we have these Crays over here, and that’s all that we’re ever going to need.” That really didn’t age very well. Now, people don’t really talk about Beowulf clusters anymore, for a simple reason. We just call them data centers.”
All of this development was happening over e-mail lists. Today, almost all of Linux’s key development occurs over the Linux Kernel Mailing List (LKML). Sometimes old technology is the best technology.
Beginning with the first Linux Kernel Summit in San Jose, California, on March 30 to March 31, 2001, developers began meeting face-to-face. That was when it became clear that while mailing lists are invaluable, personal connections are still vital. However, Corbet worries that current US visa policies will hamper such gatherings going forward.
A major shift
Corbet then turned his attention to the technical side of the Linux kernel. The Linux kernel’s development model underwent a major shift. “At the 2004 Kernel Summit. We adopted what was called, what we called the new kernel development model. Now it’s just the kernel development model where the first two weeks of every development cycle are what’s called the merge window, where all the new code, new features go in, then for the following weeks we fix the problems. This works well enough at this point that every release takes nine or 10 weeks in total. You can set your clock by the last 15 years; there have been exactly two exceptions.”
Also: The Linux 6.15 kernel arrives – and it’s big a victory for Rust fans
As Linux scaled, its development process faced bottlenecks. The biggest was the reliance on Torvalds to manually apply every patch. The adoption of BitKeeper, a proprietary source code management tool, temporarily alleviated these issues but introduced new dependencies.
Then, in April 2005, things went badly wrong. The “BitKeeper license was abruptly withdrawn, and overnight, we found ourselves without the software tool on which we had built the entire development process. So this brought everything to a halt. We were all kind of sitting there looking at each other, saying, ‘Now what?’ So Torvalds responded by creating Git in 10 days. Today this free and open source version control manager has revolutionized not only Linux development but software collaboration worldwide.
Also: I’ve used virtually every Linux distro, but this one has a fresh perspective
This approach, now used by many projects, enables rapid innovation without sacrificing reliability. Each year, 4,000 to 5,000 developers contribute over 80,000 commits, supported by a diverse array of companies, none of which dominate the project.
Corbet also highlighted the importance of embracing new technologies, such as the Rust programming language, to ensure the kernel’s long-term health and attract new contributors. “If you come back in five or ten years,” he predicted, “you’re going to see a very different looking kernel source base, and I think that’s really important for our sustainability.”
Get the morning’s top stories in your inbox each day with our Tech Today newsletter.
Microsoft Intune administrators may face a few days of stress after Redmond acknowledged a problem with security baseline customizations.
The problem? Those customizations might not be saved during the update process, and the current workaround is to manually reapply customizations after updating baseline policies.
Microsoft Intune is a cloud-based endpoint management service that allows organizations to manage fleets of devices, including configuration and updates. Many admins use Intune for patch and policy management as an alternative to on-premises tools like Windows Server Update Services (WSUS), which was noted as being “no longer in development” with the release of Windows Server 2025.
The biz also has Microsoft Configuration Manager, which has its roots in the venerable Systems Management Server of the 1990s and is an on-premises product to manage a wide variety of products, including servers. The two are sometimes used together.
A security baseline in Intune is a template consisting of configuration settings. Microsoft generally issues a default baseline with recommended values, and an administrator can then tweak those values (or not) depending on the needs of their organization. However, those values not being maintained during the update process is less than ideal, particularly if there are a lot of customizations.
The new problem occurs if an administrator customizes the security baseline, and “affects customers who are updating their baseline version to a more recent version. For example, updating the security baseline from version 23H2 to version 24H2.” Microsoft, it appears, knows best, and the changes will be discarded in favor of the Microsoft-recommended defaults. This is fine for administrators who are happy to blithely accept whatever Microsoft sets as a default, but it is not so good for organizations that want to make their own tweaks.
The current workaround is also a pain – “While we work on the fix,” said the Redmond gang, “we recommend that admins manually reapply their customizations after updating their baseline policies.”
Reports of administrators rolling their eyes so hard that the Earth has shifted slightly on its axis are likely exaggerated. ®
Join us on Thursday, July 17th, 2025, at 11:00 am (EDT) on the webinar Telephone surveys: a resource for NCD and risk factor surveillance, to discuss how telephone surveys can offer a scalable and adaptable approach to generating timely, policy-relevant NCD and risk factors data that can drive effective public health action across the Americas.The webinar is hosted by the Noncommunicable Diseases, Violence, and Injuries Prevention Unit at PAHO´s Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health.
Objectives of the webinar
Highlight the role of surveillance as an essential public health function that guides the health system response to the burden of NCDs.
Showcase the use of telephone surveys as a flexible and key tool to monitor NCDs access to care, and health system response.
Share lessons learned from the experiences of Brazil (Vigitel) and Uruguay (RaMPS) in implementing telephone-based surveillance systems and leveraging the data to inform decision-making.
Discuss policy actions to integrate flexible and rapid tools, such as telephone surveys, into a comprehensive NCD surveillance system.
The session is aimed primarily at Ministry of Health NCD focal points; mental health focal points; professionals working on health statistics, epidemiology, surveillance, planning and evaluation; representatives from subnational level health entities from countries of the Americas. It also can be useful for representatives of civil society organizations, academia and agencies interested in surveillance and monitoring of NCDs and their risk factors.
HOW TO PARTICIPATE
Agenda
11:00 am – Welcome
11:05 am – Opening remarks
Jarbas Barbosa da Silva Jr., Director, PAHO/WHO (video message)
11:10 am – Setting the scene: Why are flexible and timely tools needed for measuring NCDs?
Roberta Caixeta, Advisor, NCD surveillance, prevention and control, PAHO/WHO
11:25 am – Keynote speaker: Monitoring access to NCD quality of care
Tom Frieden, President and CEO of the Resolve to Save Lives
11:40 am – Spotlight:
Vigitel: two decades of monitoring NCD risk factors and adapting to Brazil’s evolving data needs
Letícia de Oliveira Cardoso, Director of DAENT/SVSA, Ministry of Health from Brazil
RaMPS in Uruguay: measuring the implementation of front of package labelling policies at the population level
12:10 pm – Questions and answers
12:35 pm – Closing remarks
Anselm Hennis, Director, Department of Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health, PAHO
Background
Surveillance is an essential public health function that provides critical data to monitor the burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), measure risk factors and social determinants of health, and assess targeted interventions. It enables evidence-based policy implementation, guides prevention, control, and disease management strategies, and plays a key role in evaluating interventions. Surveillance also promotes cost-effective resource allocation and strengthens health system capacity.
Within the NCD surveillance toolbox, telephone surveys are a valuable method for efficient, cost-effective data collection. Their flexibility allows for rapid deployment and adaptation to country-specific needs, making them key for ongoing surveillance. During public health crises, timely data from telephone surveys can be crucial for enabling swift responses, particularly in assessing the quality of care for NCDs.
The use of telephone surveys to monitor NCD risk factors has been successful and operational in the Americas for over two decades in Brazil with the Vigitel survey and in the United States with the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). Originally designed to track trends in NCD risk factors, these surveys have evolved, expanding their scope and adapting to specific data needs to inform policy decisions and guide interventions.
PAHO/WHO launched the Rapid Mobile Phone Survey (RaMPS) initiative in 2020 as a tool to complement the NCD surveillance toolbox by measuring policies and interventions at the population level. RaMPS has the potential to provide timely and reliable data on the implementation of the NCD Best Buys by supporting national legislative processes providing data on population behaviors, knowledge, attitudes, practices regarding risk factors exposure and protective measures. RaMPS also helps assess barriers to healthcare access, the quality of care, and can offer critical data during public health crises. Currently 8 countries in the Americas (Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Bolivia, Honduras, Paraguay, Saint Lucia, Suriname and Uruguay) have implemented RaMPS at least once.
As countries continue to strengthen their NCD surveillance capacity, telephone surveys offer a scalable and adaptable approach to generating timely, policy-relevant data that can drive effective public health action across the Americas.
Time in other cities
10:00 a.m. – Los Angeles, Vancouver
11:00 a.m. – Belmopan, Guatemala City, Managua, Mexico City, San José (CR), San Salvador, Tegucigalpa
12:00 p.m. – Bogotá, Panama City, Kingston, Lima, Quito
1:00 pm. – Bridgetown, Caracas, Georgetown, Havana, La Paz, Port of Spain, Port-au-Prince, Nassau, Ottawa, San Juan, Santiago, Santo Domingo, Washington D.C.,
2:00 p.m. – Asunción, Buenos Aires, Brasilia, Montevideo, Paramaribo
7:00 p.m. – Geneva, Madrid
For other cities, please check the local time on this link.
Octopuses can taste with their arms, and a new study reveals that specifically, they’re tasting chemical cues from microbes that grow on the surface of objects like dead crabs and living octopus eggs. These ‘flavors’, it turns out, can signal which prey is worth pursuing, or which egg isn’t going to make it.
Octopus arms bristle with neurons that inform these fascinating animals’ behaviors, sometimes even independently of their brains. Sensory receptors in their arms enable them to ‘taste by touch’, which is essential to how they decide what to nurture, what to hunt, and what isn’t worth their time.
That’s important information for these opportunistic hunters, who forage mainly at night and in shadowy crevices.
“If a microbial strain could activate a receptor, then it could generate a neural signal that tells the octopus: This is something I care about,” says Harvard University biochemist Rebecka Sepela, who led the research.
Related: Male Octopuses Stun Females With Venom to Survive Mating, Study Finds
“The microbiome is acting almost like a chemical translator. It integrates environmental signals – like changes in temperature or nutrient levels – and outputs molecules that inform the octopus how to behave.”
Proving this to be the case was an ambitious mission. The team isolated 295 different strains of bacteria from ‘biologically meaningful’ surfaces in the natural environments of wild-caught California two-spot octopuses (Octopus bimaculoides). Those meaningful surfaces included food and family: the shells of fiddler crabs (Leptuca pugilator), and egg casings of the octopus’s own offspring.
A) A two-spot octopus alongside the two ‘biologically meaningful’ surfaces of its life: crab (food) and egg cases (offspring). B) Scanning electron microscope images of the bacteria on each surface. C) Bacterial composition of each surface, by phylum. (Sepela et al., Cell, 2025)
“Those microbes produce molecules that allow the octopus to tell the difference,” Sepela says. “Microbes are chemical factories. They constantly take in environmental cues and produce molecules that reflect their surroundings.”
The shells of living crabs, for instance, are surprisingly sterile, while those of decaying crabs are quickly colonized by a dense tapestry of bacteria.
Octopus egg casings tended to by a mother octopus have a curated balance of microbes, but when discarded, this is thrown off by an overgrowth of spiral-shaped bacteria.
The screening – in which Sepela’s team painstakingly tested how octopus sensory receptors reacted to each of the nearly 300 strains – revealed that just a few of these microbes, found on decaying prey or unhealthy eggs, activated the octopuses’ receptors.
Octopuses can ‘taste’ their environment through touch, enabling them to sense bacterial signals. (Sepela et al., Cell, 2025)
To test these signals in action, octopuses who were actively brooding a clutch of eggs were given a collection of egg mimics, some marred with the spiral bacteria. The octopuses tended to these false eggs for a while, except for those bacterially marked as ‘bad eggs’, which were quickly discarded.
The researchers were even able to identify which specific molecules the octopuses responded to. This chemical ‘language’ is enabled by molecules that, despite the submarine environment, are not readily washed away from the surface on which they are formed.
While the research focuses on octopuses, Sepela and her colleagues believe this sort of chemical signaling may apply to many other kinds of microbiomes; even our own.
“This might seem like a very specific case… but what we’re seeing is actually a general rule about how organisms sense microbiomes,” says Harvard cell physiologist Nicholas Bellono.
“Across life, evolution, and organ systems, microbes are essential – and this study shows another example of how deeply they influence physiology and behavior.”
As many Americans prepare for outdoor Fourth of July celebrations, the start of UV Safety Awareness Month serves as a timely reminder to take protective measures against sun exposure during the holiday and beyond.
July is UV Safety Awareness Month, highlighting the growing risks of UV radiation and encouraging the use of protective measures to reduce sun-related health threats. | Image Credit: Nass Studio – stock.adobe.com
Understanding UV Radiation and Its Risks
UV Safety Awareness Month is observed each July as summer intensifies across the Northern Hemisphere.1 The initiative aims to raise awareness and encourage individuals to take proactive steps to protect themselves from the harmful effects of UV radiation.
Invisible to the naked eye, UV radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation composed of high-energy waves that can damage DNA and cause sunburns. Although the sun is the primary source, artificial sources such as tanning beds also emit UV radiation.
There are 2 main types of UV rays: UVA and UVB. UVA rays are longer and penetrate deeper into the skin, contributing to premature aging and wrinkles. In contrast, UVB rays are shorter and primarily responsible for sunburn. Roughly 95% of UV rays that reach the Earth’s surface are UVA, with the remaining 5% being UVB.2
At this year’s American Academy of Dermatology Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida, experts highlighted how air pollution has intensified UV exposure.3 Chlorofluorocarbons, in particular, contribute to climate change by acting as potent greenhouse gases and damaging the stratospheric ozone layer, allowing more UV radiation to reach the Earth’s surface.
The Health Impact of UV Exposure
In addition to causing sunburn and premature aging, UV exposure is a leading cause of skin cancer, the most common cancer type in the US.4 It is estimated that 1 in 5 Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime.
The 3 main skin cancer types are basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and melanoma.1 Basal cell carcinoma is the most common, accounting for about 80% of cases. It typically grows slowly and can often be treated effectively with surgery or radiation. Squamous cell carcinoma makes up around 20% of cases and commonly develops on sun-exposed areas of the body, like the face, hands, and neck.
Although melanoma makes up only about 4% of skin cancer cases, it is the most serious type due to its aggressive nature. If not detected and treated early, melanoma can quickly metastasize to other parts of the body. As a result, survival rates exceed 99% when the cancer is caught early and still localized, but they fall to 75% with regional spread and 35% when it reaches distant sites.5
Excessive UV exposure can also lead to serious eye conditions, namely cataracts and pterygium, both of which can impair vision.2 Additionally, UV radiation can weaken the immune system, reducing the body’s ability to fight off certain infections and diseases.
Effective Ways to Minimize UV Damage
According to Weill Cornell Medicine, the amount of UV exposure a person receives depends on the strength of the rays, the duration of skin exposure, and the presence of any protective measures.
To minimize sun exposure and reduce the risk of UV-related skin damage, it is recommended to seek shade as often as possible, especially between 10 AM and 4 PM, when the sun’s rays are strongest. If outside in the sun, individuals should wear protective clothing, including long-sleeved shirts, pants, wide-brimmed hats, and UV-blocking sunglasses.
It is also recommended to apply a broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen with an SPF of 30 or higher.4 The National Council on Skin Cancer Prevention advises applying at least 1 ounce, or a palmful, of sunscreen every 2 hours, and more frequently if you are sweating or swimming.2
References
July is UV Safety Month. Skin and Cancer Institute. Accessed July 1, 2025. https://skinandcancerinstitute.com/july-is-uv-safety-month/
UV Safety Awareness Month. Weill Cornell Medicine. July 22, 2021. Accessed July 1, 2025. https://weillcornell.org/news/uv-safety-awareness-month
McCormick B. Climate change, pollution’s growing impact on dermatology. AJMC®. March 10, 2025. Accessed July 1, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/climate-change-pollution-s-growing-impact-on-dermatology
Skin cancer. American Academy of Dermatology Association. Accessed July 1, 2025. https://www.aad.org/media/stats-skin-cancer
Steinzor P. 5 things you should know about skin cancer. AJMC. May 2, 2025. Accessed July 1, 2025. https://www.ajmc.com/view/5-things-you-should-know-about-skin-cancer
But wait, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is an interactive experience packed with trivia, design secrets, and minigames that show off the new system features. If you’re the type of person who is curious about technology, product design, and all the little details that go into making something, this might be a tour for you!
Go over the system’s features…literally
Welcome to the exhibition hall…which happens to look like a GIANT Nintendo Switch 2 system. As your character walks on top of the system (and eventually inside it), you can access fun little facts and secrets. For example, did you know:
That the rumble in your controller is created when magnets and electromagnets shift a little weight around? This is similar to how some trains use magnets to levitate, allowing them to move at extremely high speeds.
The mouse sensor is a black-and-white camera with a resolution of a handful of pixels…which is even fewer than the old Game Boy™ Camera! These sensors check the surface they’re on to see the direction and distance they’ve moved. This is then translated into mouse movement.
Some Nintendo Switch 2 games support a process called super resolution. This is when the Nintendo Switch 2 console’s main computer performs machine-learning calculations and predicts what kind of detailed picture it should draw. This results in a clearer, more detailed picture.
The Nintendo Switch 2 dock has rounded edges for a reason! It’s so the release buttons on the Joy-Con 2™ controllers are easier to reach.
If you enjoy reading these little nuggets of knowledge, there are plenty more facts like these in the full game.
Minigames and experiences
Sometimes the best way of learning is by doing, err, playing. There are several minigames that relate to the tech that you explore in the exhibits. These minigames include guiding a UFO through spiked balls with mouse controls, trying to guess shapes by using HD rumble 2, and more. And if you’re not one to back down from a challenge, some minigames have multiple difficulties that change up the conditions. Think you can guide a UFO through spiked balls while catching stars? It’s gonna take some quick reflexes!
Finally, there are other experiences called tech demos. For example, you can test out the noise reduction features of the system microphone or experience 3D spatial sound capabilities. There’s even one demo where you gently shake the Joy-Con 2 controllers like maracas and have the rumble feature simulate the feeling of beads inside. You’re never quite sure what you’ll find next!
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is out now—if you’d like to learn more about the game, please visit the link below to learn more.
The nights surrounding the first quarter moon phase on June 2 present a good opportunity to spot colossal ‘X’ and ‘V’ features emblazoned on the lunar surface.
This month’s first quarter phase occurs at 11:41 p.m. EDT on June 2 (0341 GMT on June 3), at which time the right side of the half-lit lunar disk will be illuminated by direct sunlight from the perspective of viewers in the northern hemisphere on Earth.
At this time, the sun shines at such an angle to make it appear as if there is a gigantic ‘V’ and ‘X’ marking the barren lunar surface. This kind of phenomenon is referred to as a ‘clair-obscur’ effect and occurs when the interplay between light and shadow leads to the chance formation of familiar shapes on the moon’s craggy terrain.
How to spot the letters ‘X’ and ‘V’ marking the lunar surface
The lunar letters are visible for roughly four hours in the run-up to each first quarter moon phase and are at their most impressive when seen just on the ‘night’ side of the terminator, with their upper reaches kissed by the sun’s light. Try and find the lunar ‘X’ and ‘V’ on the lunar disk at sunset on June 2 and be sure to keep checking back to see how these shapes evolve over time.
If you miss the letters on the night side of the terminator, there’s no need to lose hope, as they’ll continue to be visible for a brief period after they pass to the ‘day side’ of the moon.
The lunar ‘X’ becomes visible for a brief period around the moon’s first quarter phase. (Image credit: Photo by Ding Yi/VCG via Getty Images, annotations by Anthony Wood)
The lunar X is an optical effect formed when sunlight strikes elevated rim sections of the Bianchini, Purbach and La Caille Craters around the first quarter moon phase, according to stargazing website EarthSky.org. The feature can be found around 25 degrees south of the lunar equator close to the terminator, which is the line separating the dayside and nightside of the moon, close to the prominent Werner and Aliacensis Craters.
The lunar ‘X’ and ‘V’ are briefly visible in the hours preceding the moon’s first quarter phase. (Image credit: Photo by: Alan Dyer/VWPics/Universal Images Group via Getty Images, annotations by Anthony Wood)
To find the lunar ‘V’, moongazers must follow the line of the terminator up to a point less than 10 degrees above the lunar equator to find the partially shadowed form of the Ukert Crater. Both objects can be spotted through a small backyard telescope with a 6-inch aperture, though a larger scope will help resolve detail in the myriad craters and broken terrain dotting the surrounding moonscapes.
Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!
TOP TELESCOPE PICK
(Image credit: Amazon)
Want to see the lunar X and V? The Celestron NexStar 4SE is ideal for beginners wanting quality, reliable and quick views of celestial objects. For a more in-depth look at our Celestron NexStar 4SE review.
Stargazers interested in exploring the lunar surface should check out our guides to the best telescopes and binoculars available in 2025. Photographers interested in capturing the moon’s surface should also read our roundup of the best cameras and lenses for astrophotography.
Editor’s Note: If you capture a picture of the letters on the moon and want to share it with Space.com’s readers, then please send your photo(s), comments, and your name and location to spacephotos@space.com.
