30 moon facts that are out of this world
Even the buffs of science and space will be surprised by these incredible songs of trivia.
We must assume that as long as humans have been there to look at the night sky, we have been fascinated by the moon. The moon was at the center of countless myths, legends and stories throughout the years. In modern times, this was the center of the two fictitious films that imagine what could be there as well as the exploration and the study determined to teach us more about it. If our heavenly neighbor sticks your interest, then you must read 30Fascinating ways About the moon.
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1 It would take about 400,000 moons to match the brightness of the sun.
This number may seem quite amazing at first, the moon does not produce its own light - it reflects the sunlight actually. And not very much either. According toSky and telescope, "The brightness of the moon depends on the exact angle between the earth, the moon and the sun ... [and] The brightness of a full moon is generally cited at a magnitude around -13, about 14 magnitudes or 400,000 times lower than the sun. "It means that the moon has a lot of work to do if it wants to be as flashy as our brilliant star.
2 The United Nations has an external space treaty to "govern" the moon.
In order to cancel a potential match of dibs call on the moon or planets, the United Nations has signed theTreaty on the outside space in 1967Two years before astronauts first landed on the moon. Some highlights of the treaty include a determination that "the exploration and use of outdoor space, including the moon and other celestial organisms, are made for the benefits and in the interest of all countries" and a rule that the treaty parties are "not to place in orbit around the earth objects wearing nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction". Well, it's definitely a relief!
3 There is such a thing that "moon tremors".
If you thought the tremits were limited to our planet, so you hold on your hats because it turns out that there is a whole lotta shaking in space. In the moon studies conducted between 1969 and 1972, Apollo astronauts installed seismometers around the locations they explored.According to NASAThe results showed that "the moon tremors" went very deep rumbling that took place at about 700 km below the surface of "shallow moon tremors at only 20 or 30 kilometers below the surface ... which recorded until at 5.5 on the Richter scale ".
4 The moon is the result of spatial debris forming after a collision with the earth.
Billions of years ago There are billions, when the earth was only a spurious thing, she came into contact with a "Mars-size planet" called theia. The result of this collision was that "almost all the earth and the theia were melted and reformed as a body, with a small part of the new mass that turns to become the moon that we know it", according to theNatural History Museum. The process of the moon forming debris of the massive impact is called "fission of rotation"And has been verified by Apollo astronauts after samples of the moon, are founded isotopes similar to the ground.
5 The moon is lemon shape.
This beautiful sphere in the night sky is anything but perfectly round because of various factors, including impact craters and the field of gravity around the moon. UC Santa Cruz Deputy Professor of Earth and Planetary Sciences,Ian Garrick-Bethell, written in a paper, viaUC Santa Cruz News, "If you imagine the spinning of a balloon, it will start flattening to the poles and the bulge to the equator ... Moreover, you have tides because of the gravitational chest of the earth, And this creates a kind of lemon shape. "
6 Apollo astronauts left more than a flag on the moon.
At the time when the Apollo 11 mission took place in 1969, astronauts abandoned many objects on the surface of the moon. Objects such as tools, other equipment, food, human waste (yes, you read this right), and more than 70 "spatial vehicles" are still there, according toBritannica. Why was he left behind? Well, it would cost too much to bring all that garbage to the earth.
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7 The moon is about 32 earth land away from us.
On a beautiful night, a full moon seems almost quite close to touch. However, if you really wanted to do our planet on the lunar surface, you should go between 225.623 and 252,088 miles. In trouble conceptualizing this? Well, consider the fact thatNasa Science Note that when the moon is nearest, the distance is 28 to 29 lands, and its farthest, it is almost 32 earth land.
8 The moon has a spatially time zone.
You can live in the oriental time zone or go by the standard time of the Pacific, but if you want to set your lunar watch, you will have to define it at Universal Time (UT). According toScientific focus, Time Universal "is a modern form ofGreenwich Mean Time"And remains the same thing where you are in the big extent of space. It means" the time UT on the moon is identical at the time of the earth. "As long as they have no day saving up there, so I think we can handle it.
9 The full moon of each month has its own name.
There is a full moon for each month of the year and each has its own unique name. Since the January moon wolf of the January Moon harvest and the cold moon of December, the lunar phases have been used to keep track of each month over the centuries.National Geographic Explain that "the old crops around the world have given these full moons names based on the behavior of plants, animals or weather conditions during this month." Now, when you see a full moon in November, you can indicate with confidence the sky and wow your friends with the knowledge you look at the Beaver Moon.
10 China is the only country landing on the dark side of the moon.
In 2019, China landed itsChang'E-4 Stagecraft on the moon, but astronauts do not just touch in a random place. Maybe wondering whatRose floyd We are introduced, the spaceship made its landing on the other side of the space-based body.Story Reported that it was "the first spaceship of history to try or to make a landing on this unexplored area, which is never visible from the earth." While there, Chinese astronauts have studied the vast mooncakes on the cold surface.
11 The Earth Moon is the fifth largest in our solar system.
Our moon may not be the largest flying in space, but it's not exactly the smallest either. On the 200 moons that are in our solar system, the moon of the Earth ranks in the fifth largest, according toAtlas of the world. The biggest isJupiter Moon, Ganymede, which is almost at once and two more massive than ours. It must be a devil of a full moon!
12 The temperature on the moon can go from -387 to 260 ° Fahrenheit.
If you think your hometown undergoes extreme temperature changes, try to live on the moon. Unlike the earth, the moon has no atmosphere to help protect it from the sun's radiation. This means that when the sun strikes the surface of the moon, it cook the surface with a 260 ° Fahrenheit burn. Beyond that, on the other side of the moon where the sun does not shine, it can fall to a chilling -387 ° Fahrenheit, according toThe planets.
13 The dark spots on the moon are called "Maria".
Have you ever watched on the moon and asked for contrasting light and black spots that seem to cover the surface? What you are looking at, they are vestiges of an old magma stream that brought the rocky surface of the darker moon. According toThe Washington PostThese dark spots are called "Maria", which is the Latin word for "sea". So, what you see are, in fact, old lunar seas and not from the face of the man on the moon.
14 The moon moves about 3.8 cm from the earth every year.
Although it is impossible for the average person to notice, the moon effectively becomes further from us.Scientific focus explained that the lunar body moves away from the earth at a rate of 3.8 cm a year due to the effect of gravity. "The high tides in the oceans cause a drag and thus slow down the rotation rate of the earth," added the output while noting that the "resulting angular dynamics loss is compensated by the moon accelerating and moving further" . Hey, we get it, sometimes you just need a little space.
15 The shadows on the moon are darker than on earth.
How can a shadow become darker? When on earth, the light is dispersed and reflected through the air molecules, which is why the sky looks blue and "allows objects to not always be well lit", according toWorld. This effect is called "Dispersing rayleigh"And do not happen on the moon because of the fact that there is no air up there. That's why the shadows are darker on the surface of the moon and that tasks affected with the sunlight are even brighter.
16 We always see the same side of the moon.
If this suspicious moon there still seems as if it has something to hide, it's because it's done. Apparently, the moon shows me only one of his sides because of something called "synchronous rotation. "Like the earth turns every year around the sun and turns on its axis every day, the" moon orbit earth once every 27.3 days and turns on its axis once every 27.3 days ", whoAstronomy Explains "means that the moon is rotating, it always keeps one face towards us." Honestly, however, there is something to say to always show your good side.
17 The crust of the moon varies in thickness.
The debate on a thin crust and a thick crust holds a little less meaning when you are on the moon. This is because there is something for everyone out there and no, we are not talking about pizza. Take a look atThe NASA website To find a map showing the seismic data of "the thickness of the moon crust" and you will notice that there is a wide range of density due to impact craters and other phenomena. Some record areas up to 60 km thick while other areas record almost nothing.Air and space Noted that in some places there is "a relatively thin crust, with coat material being very close to the surface."
18 There is a body buried on the moon.
The nameEugene Shoemaker Might not make bells, but this geologist played a decisive role when he came to establish planet sciences. Among hisa lot of achievements Include the fact that Shoemaker had a comet named from him and that he became the only human to have their remains buried on the moon. In 1998, some of the remnants of shoemakers were "launched in a commemorative capsule on the lunar prospector at the moon", where they would continue to crash on the surface, giving it a permanent residence on the lunar body, according toUniversity of Arizona. This gives a new meaning to the idea of man on the moon.
19 The moon could be a place of future burial for more humans.
If you want to have an impact after your death and you do not want to just be buried six feet under, you may want to check this shipment out of this world.Elastic space Has a team of space and funeral experts who combine "experience of the main spatial missions of NASA and profoundly rooted funerary knowledge" to make your last rest place more than a little memorable. ALunar commemorative The package starts at $ 9,950 and offers to send "a symbolic part of remnants to the surface of the moon, helping to create quintessential commemoration".
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20 The moon is a little more than a quarter of the size of the earth.
We have already established the fact that the moon is long away from the Earth, but we consider that we are always able to see the moon so strongly, you can ask yourself how big it is. Well,NASA explainsAn equatorial circumference of 10,917 km means that the moon is about 27% of the size of the Earth. To put it in other words, if the earth was a tennis bullet, the moon would be a golf ball. According toSpareIt is "a much larger ratio (1: 4) than any other planet and their moons".
21 A cloud of dust surrounds the moon.
You can not see it with your own eyes, but the moon is darkened from space dust. The results of the discovery (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) show that the "moon is engulfed in a permanent but unbalanced cloud of dust". According toMihaly horanyi, Professor of Physics Cu-Boulder,Via NASA, "The cloud is mainly composed of tiny dust grains on the surface of the moon surface by the impact of high speed interplanetary dust particles."
22 The crater of the South Aitken Pole is the largest on the moon.
The moon is covered with impact craters that add to its recognizable charm of Swiss cheese. But the biggest of the lot is theSouth Aitken Crater Pole, which covers a blow of 1,550 miles. This huge basin spans about a quarter of the length of the moon andNASA explains That may have been made up of a "cataclysmic event that occurred there is 3.9 billion years". TheLatest research Also discovered a metal abnormality of the size of Hawaii in the depths of the basin. If it is not the beginning of a potentially terrifying science fiction movie, we do not know what is.
23 NASA plans to create a base camp on the moon.
Like the search for search on the moon of the earth continues, NASA plans to create a home away from home during theMISSION ARTEMIS III, which is planned to go to the lunar surface in 2024. TheArtemis base camp Allow astronauts to stay on the surface for a long time, however, choose the ideal location will be essential for the success of the base. According toNasaThe "site must lounge in the almost continuous sunlight to feed the base and moderate extreme temperature breaks," while "offering easy access to complete dark areas that hold water ice." So, like real estate, everything is question of location, location, location.
24 The sunlight crossing the atmosphere of the Earth changes the color of the moon.
Have you ever wondered why and how the pink and red moons have got their names as well as their distinctive colors? It turns out that the lunar surface is not a kind of high-tech LED lighting system, but instead its charming shades when sunlight crosses the earthly atmosphere and reflects on the moon. During a rare blue moon, the hue is caused by "ashes of a volcanic eruption or even a forest fire" on earth, according toOnline registration. And during a harvest moon, while farmers work on their crops, the dust particles are sent in the atmosphere that, with the help of the sun's rays, give the moon to hang its dramatic orange shine.
25 "The moon trees" were grown seeds taken in space.
Forget the moon pies, although they are delicious - how would you be able to develop your ownMoon tree? During theApollo 14 Mission in 1971, order module driverStuart Roosa directed scientific experiences while orbiting the moon. He took with him "a can of about 400-500 pine Loblly, Sweetgum, Sequoia, Douglas fir and sycamore tree seeds," according toNasa. And "on his return [to the ground], the seeds were sprouted and grew up in" the moon trees "." These super special trees can always be found at the United States.
26 The moon can affect the way we sleep.
Now you can blame the moon to affect your nightlife, instead of this coffee pot at the end of the evening. A study conducted by scientists from the University of Basel of Switzerland and published byCurrent biologyIn 2013, aimed to determine whether volunteers had a difficult period for a full moon. The result of the study suggests that "lunar influences" brought topics to take longer to fall asleep, sleeping less and spending fewer moments in a deep sleep state. Apparently, it was not due to the brightness of a full moon, it is rather "the lunar cycle [that] seems to influence human sleep, even when we do not see the moon and is not aware of the phase of the moon "Christian Cajochen explained, according toThe BBC.
"The moon is 81 times lighter than the earth.
Before telling the love of your life that you are going to move the sky and the earth for them, perhaps offer rather to change the moon. According toSpare, the mass of our moon is "7.35 x 1022 kg, about 1.2% of the ground of the earth", which means that the planet we live on the weighs 81 times more than the lunar body above from U.S. Next to the moon of Jupiter, it is the "second dense moon of the solar system". Not that it is a competition or anything.
28 There are rules to follow to appoint a crater on the moon.
TheNames of some areas on the moon tend to pay tribute to previous scientists and explorers. Others seem almost fantastic, like the sea of tranquility and the serenity sea. If you discover a new crater on the moon and want to give it a title, you will have to follow 14 rules of theInternational Astronomical Union (IAU). These guidelines prevent cheeky astronomers from appointing the next big crater something unfortunate.
29 The moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth.
Although the moon is not responsible for the increase in the power of our wifi or add more television channels to our dish, it is only one of the many satellites located in the atmosphere of the Earth. . "A satellite is a moon, a planet or a machine that orbit a planet or a star", according toNasaAnd while the moon is the only natural satellite of the earth, it surrounds us with3,300 artificial satellitesincludingSputnik, which was launched in 1957.
30 Once there was active volcanoes on the moon.
The moon was once a focus of volcanic activity. As a melted lava of volcanoes, there are billions of years on the lunar surface, she helped create unique craters. In 2014,Nasa Reported that a team from the Arizona State University discovered "irregular patch" on the moon from volcanic eruptions about 50 million years ago. Fortunately, the volcanoes of the moon have been sleeping since then, so we do not have to worry about eruptions at any time soon.
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