ten things you might like to know about the moon

8/9/2019 Ten Things You Might Like to Know About the Moon

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/ten-things-you-might-like-to-know-about-the-moon 1/56

Ten Things You Might Like to KnowTen Things You Might Like to Know

About the Earth¶s Moon About the Earth¶s Moon

A shortA shortpresentation bypresentation by

the Howardthe HowardAstronomicalAstronomical

LeagueLeague



In 1609 and 1610, theIn 1609 and 1610, the

first years that thefirst years that the

newly invented newly invented

telescope was turned telescope was turned

towards the Moon,towards the Moon,

Thomas Harriot madeThomas Harriot madea number of drawingsa number of drawings

of his telescopic of his telescopic

observations of theobservations of the

Moon.Moon.



TheUnlabeled

Moon



The LabeledThe Labeled

MoonMoon



Distance From Earth: 225,745 miles

Length of a Day: 27.3 days

Radius: 1,080 milesDiameter: 2,160 miles

Weight:81 Quintillion

Tons

Surface Temp (Day): 273° F

Surface Temp (Night): - 244° F

Gravity At Surface:0.1667 g (1/6

Earth's)

Orbital Speed 2,287 mph

Driving time by car (@70

mph):135 days

Flying time by rocket: 60 to 70 hrs.

No. of Men Who Have Walked

on Surface:12

Age of Oldest Rock Collected: 4.5 Billions yrs.

Rocks Collected By Apollo: 842 pounds

Widest Craters: 140 miles (dia.)

Deepest Craters: 15,000+ (ft.)

Highest Mountains: 16,000+ (ft.)



1. Theories of Moon1. Theories of Moon

FormationFormationEven now we do not knowEven now we do not know

with absolute certainty«with absolute certainty«



Accretion Accretion

«the Moon and theEarth formed at

about the same time,

4.6 billion years ago,when the solar

system emerged fromthe Solar Nebulae



CaptureCapture

«the Moon formedelsewhere in the solar

system and wassubsequently captured by

the Earth



FissionFission

«the Moon split off fromthe Earth



Collision EjectaCollision Ejecta

«the Earth collided witha very large object (asbig as Mars or more)very early during the

formation of the solarsystem and the Moon

formed from the ejectedmaterial



2. The Moveable Moon2. The Moveable MoonIt used to be a lot closer«It used to be a lot closer«



The Moon used to occupy a sizeableamount of the sky. No one is exactly

sure how large it appeared from theEarth or how close the fully formedMoon actually was to the Earth.Calculations predict around 13, 500miles. There were no human eyes to

see it.

Back then, like a tether ball on a ropewrapped around the pole or keys onthe end of a chain swinging around

your finger, it "swung" a lot fasterbecause it was "wound up" closer tothe pivot. The Earth revolved onceevery 5 hours or so.



Nowadays the moon constantlymoves further away from the

Earth ± at a rate of about 1-1/2inches per year.

Every century the moon moves just over 12 feet further away.

In the next one million years the

moon will be about 24 milesfurther away from the earth.



3. The Moon¶s Ultimate3. The Moon¶s UltimateFateFate

The Moon will continue to drift outward until, inThe Moon will continue to drift outward until, inthe remote future, the Earth and the Moon will bethe remote future, the Earth and the Moon will belocked in a frozen embrace like Pluto and itslocked in a frozen embrace like Pluto and itssatellite Charon. Then the Earth will turn on itssatellite Charon. Then the Earth will turn on its

axis once in the same period the Moon revolvesaxis once in the same period the Moon re

volvesaround it, about once every 50 days.around it, about once every 50 days.



4. A Dead Moon4. A Dead MoonDead, essentially, for 3.8Dead, essentially, for 3.8

billion years or more«billion years or more«



For hundreds of years itFor hundreds of years itwas thought desperatelywas thought desperately

that the Moon had athat the Moon had avolcanic history like thevolcanic history like theEarth¶s. The Moon HAS hadEarth¶s. The Moon HAS hada limited volcanic history, ina limited volcanic history, infact. A Picture taken infact. A Picture taken in1994 by the Clementine1994 by the Clementine

mission shows a volcano onmission shows a volcano onthe Moon¶s South Pole fromthe Moon¶s South Pole frommillions of years ago. Thismillions of years ago. Thisis fairly recent in the Moon¶sis fairly recent in the Moon¶shistory, which explains whyhistory, which explains whythere are few impactthere are few impact

craters nearby. Butcraters nearby. Butvulcanism is the minorvulcanism is the minorplayer in the Moon¶splayer in the Moon¶shistory.history.



The Far Side of the MoonThe Far Side of the Moon

The major player ismeteorite impact,

mostly occurring duringthe Moon¶s early history

± the so-called periodsof heavy and lightbombardment.

And incidentally there isno permanent dark sideof the Moon except on

Pink Floyd albums.



5. A Brief Series of Visits5. A Brief Series of VisitsJust 30 years ago«Just 30 years ago«



The Lunar Landscape from ApolloThe Lunar Landscape from Apollo

1717



THE APOLLO LANDING SITES

Mission Site Location Latitude Longitude Date of Landing

11 Mare Tranquillitatis 0°41'15" N 23°26' E July 20, 1969

12 Oceanus Procellarum 3°11'51" S 23°23'8" W Nov. 19, 1969

14 Fra Mauro 3°40'24" S 17°27'55" W Jan. 31, 1971

15 Hadley-Apennines 26°06'03" N 03°39'10" E July 30, 1971

16 Descartes 8°59'29" S 15°30'52" E April 21, 1972

17 Taurus-Littrow 20°9'55" N 30°45'57" E Dec. 11, 1972



Apollo 11 Landing Site Apollo 11 Landing Site



Apollo 11 - Jul. 16th - Jul. 24th (1969)Crew: Neil A. Armstrong, CommanderEdwin E. Aldrin, Lunar Module PilotMichael Collins, Command Module Pilot

Apollo 16 - Jul. 26th - Aug. 7th (1971)Crew: John W. Young, CommanderThomas K. Mattingly II, Cmd. Module PilotCharles M. Duke, Jr., Lunar Module Pilot

Apollo 17 - Dec. 7th - Dec. 19th (1972)Crew: Eugene A. Cernan, CommanderRonald B. Evans, Command Module PilotHarrison H. Schmitt, Lunar Module Pilot



Apollo 12 - Nov. 14th - Nov. 24th (1969)Crew: Charles Conrad, Jr., CommanderRichard F. Gordon, Jr., Command Module PilotAlan L. Bean, Lunar Module Pilot

Apollo 14 - Jan. 31th - Feb. 9th (1971)Crew: Alan B. Shepard, Jr., CommanderStuart A. Roosa , Command Module PilotEdgar D. Mitchell, Lunar Module Pilot

Apollo 15 - Jul. 26th - Aug. 7th (1971)Crew: David R. Scott, CommanderAlfred M. Worden, Command Module Pilot

James B. Irwin, Lunar Module Pilot



6. Light and Dark Areas6. Light and Dark AreasA cursory view of the moon«A cursory view of the moon«



The light areas are heavily cratered,rocky, high land on the moon, known asthe Uplands. They cover 85% of the

moon¶s near side and almost all of themoon¶s far side.

The dark areas are called 'maria'. 'Maria'is a Latin word for 'seas', because it was

believ

ed that these dark areas wereactually seas. They are, instead,smoother, lower areas of land, withfewer impact craters. The cover 15% of the moon¶s near side and almost none of

the moon¶s far side.



The key to all of this is:

The Moon's surface was first shapedby heavy meteorite bombardment,followed by lava floods.

All of the Moon used to look like thelight areas, heavily cratered. The lavaflows later filled in many of thecratered areas.



7. As Bright as Asphalt7. As Bright as AsphaltThe moon shines by reflectedThe moon shines by reflected

sunlight«sunlight«



The Moon¶s AlbedoThe Moon¶s Albedo

BrightnessNext to the sun, the full moon is thebrightest object in the heavens. However,

its surface is rough and brownish andreflects light very poorly. In fact, themoon is about the poorest reflector in thesolar system. The amount of lightreflected by a celestial object is called thealbedo (Latin: albus, white). The moonreflects only 7% of the sunlight that fallsupon it, so the albedo is 0.07.



8. Phases of the Moon8. Phases of the MoonIt all adds up to 29.53 days«It all adds up to 29.53 days«



Phases of the MoonPhases of the Moon



9. Eclipses9. EclipsesEnjoy them while they last«Enjoy them while they last«



Solar EclipseSolar Eclipse



Solar Eclipse Collage 2002Solar Eclipse Collage 2002



Lunar EclipseLunar Eclipse



It is quite remarkable that total solar eclipseseven occur at all. They are possible because theSun and the Moon appear from Earth to be aboutthe same size in the sky.

The Sun, whose diameter is 400 times that of theMoon, happens to be about 400 times as far awayfrom the Earth. This condition permits the Moon to just barely cover up the Sun.

In fact, if the Moon's diameter (2,160 miles) were just 140 miles less, it would not be large enoughto ever completely cover the Sun -- a total solareclipse could never happen anywhere on Earth!



10. Moonstruck!:10. Moonstruck!:Luna, Lunacy, LooneyLuna, Lunacy, Looney ± ±

The Lunar Effect?The Lunar Effect?Correlation does not meanCorrelation does not mean

causation«causation«



Moonstruck! Does the full moonMoonstruck! Does the full moon

influence behavior?influence behavior?

No. CorrelationCorrelationdoes notdoes not

necessarily meannecessarily meancausation«causation«



Bonus!Bonus!

11. Faces in the Moon11. Faces in the MoonThis is the moon beforeany outline is drawn.

Use this as a reference tovisualize upcomingshapes.



Woman in the MoonWoman in the Moon

Every person may

see the image a littledifferently. Length of hair and the shape of her face may vary.



Man Reading a BookMan Reading a Book

This

view may

varydepending on your

earthly location.



The Bogeyman MoonThe Bogeyman Moon



Rabbit in the MoonRabbit in the Moon



Man in the MoonMan in the Moon



Thanks for coming outto view the Moon!!

ten things you might like to know about the moon

Documents