The moon, it is always there in the sky watching us. It’s no wonder that stories have been weaved through our history that tell of the mystical powers of the moon. One of the oldest depictions of the of the moon is located in Knowth County, Meath, Ireland. The central chamber of the burial mound located there holds a nearly 5,000-year-old map of the moon’s surface. The ancient maps pits and mountains represent the craters and mountains we can see on the moon with the naked eye. The rest of the burial mound is decorated with circular and spiral patterns, all believed to be various depictions of the moon.
The truth is, however, that the moon is no more mystical then any rock in the forest. The moon isn’t like all of the twinkling stars in the sky, it doesn’t shine bright, in fact it doesn’t shine at all. I’m not trying to say that the moon isn’t important to our everyday lives, it is responsible for the ocean tides, changing day lengths, and the magnificent eclipses that make us stop in our tracks.
You might wonder how the moon was created, of course no one knows for sure. There are theories that it was created at the same time as the Earth as just extra material that was spun out of Earth’s gravitational field. However, the most widely accepted theory is that there was a massive impact from an object the size of Mars while the Earth was still forming. This impact threw debris into space, and as the Earth reformed the remaining material collected into what we know as the moon.
Did you know that we always see the same side of the moon? The moon’s rotational period, or lunar day, is exactly the same as the lunar orbital period, or the time it takes to go around the Earth once. The Moon is in a geosynchronous orbit meaning it is locked in the same orientation with the Earth.
The moon is the brightest object in the sky, second only to the sun, however if it weren’t for the sun we wouldn’t be able to see it at all. The surface of the moon is actually very dark and it doesn’t produce any of its own light. The dust on the moon’s surface is very similar in color to coal. However, even this dark dust can reflect a small amount of light, the amount that is reflected back is called albedo. The moon reflects most of its light directly back towards the sun. This reflection towards the sun is what causes phases of the moon. As the moon orbits around the Earth, the angle of the sun to the moon to the Earth changes. In the diagram below you can see all the phases of the moon.
The last lunar eclipse was on April 15, 2014 and the next is expected on October 8, 2014, so there is always time to plan a lunar eclipse viewing party.
Want to create your own eclipse?
Materials:
tennis ball, ping pong ball, flashlight, and a table
Procedure:
- Place the tennis ball about two feet away from the flashlight, and the ping pong ball in-between at about the one-foot point.
- Make the room dark.
- Turn the flashlight on and make sure it’s pointed at the tennis ball.
- Move the ping pong ball around and observe where the shadow falls.
- The tennis ball represents Earth, the ping pong ball represents the moon, and the flashlight is the Sun.
- What happens when you place the moon on the other side of the Earth?
- If you would like to observe the phases of the moon for yourself, slowly move the ping pong ball in a circle around the tennis ball and observe how the light from the flashlight looks on it.
Post adapted from Lady Astrid’s Laboratory.
