The Moon!!!

The moon is made of cheese. The moon has a man on it. The man on the moon lives off of the cheese, so therefore the moon is slowly getting smaller. These are some thing we know to be fact. But I’m sure there are plenty of things about the moon that you don’t know. 

The moon is actually responsible for a lot of stuff. Like the tides in the ocean, or volcanic activity. But we don’t actually know how the moon got there. The best theory that scientists have today is something called the “Giant Impact Hypothesis”. The hypothesis says, that while the Earth was just a baby, a big proto-planet came out of nowhere and crashed into the Earth. While giant pieces of both the proto-planet and Earth are flying about gravity kicks in. The large amount of junk being tossed around forms What the Earth is today, and a smaller amount goes to make the moon.

The moon is a natural satellite for the Earth, and at about a quarter of the Earth’s diameter, it is the biggest moon in comparison to its planet in the solar system. And when you look at the moon you are actually seeing the face, called the Lunar Near Side. The other side of the moon is called the Lunar Far Side… Man, scientists get crazy when they name stuff. Anyways, the moon, like the Earth, rotates. And while you would think that, if that were the case then you would be able to see all sides of the moon. But the moon and the Earth rotate and orbit in a kind of unison. Like they are dancing, and the Lunar Near Side is always the side that looks at us. So they next time you look at a full moon and think “Man, that crater looks familiar…” it’s because you have seen it your whole life!

The moon is known for playing tricks on us too. Think about it, when does a full moon look biggest? When it is on the horizon, at its farthest visible position from your location. It looks smallest when it is in the middle of the sky, the closest it can be to your location. Why is that? 

Well, it’s actually an optical illusion. Your brain knows that the moon is massive. And when the moon is right next to something, like trees, or buildings, you brain will blow the image up to make it look bigger in comparison! And when the moon is in the middle of the sky, your brain has nothing to compare its massive size to, and so it looks smaller. 

Another cool trick is when the moon changes color. Have you ever see the moon on the horizon and it was an orange-red color? This is because the light coming from the moon is being refracted (bent) through particles and chemicals in the atmosphere. When the light is bent we see every color but the orange-red colors, and so this is the color we see. Light being refracted in the Earth’s atmosphere is also why the sky is blue, and why sunsets turn purple some times. An easy example of refraction is a straw in a glass half filled with water. The light gets refracted in the water and the straw looks like it’s not one solid line, same concept. 

There is a lot more to the moon then meets the eye. And as far as things to look at, it’s one of my favorites.