Astronomer Igor Bely tells how to recognize craters on the lunar surface, why the ancient Greek astronomer Aristarchus of Samos is more mysterious than the author of the heliocentric system of the world, Nicolaus Copernicus, what a "supermoon" is and how much the lunar disk actually increases in our firmament.
What to say for the craters of the moon. They are all drums. All these are traces of a superlong cosmic bombardment, which the Moon manically keeps as a keepsake. There are innumerable craters on it, in fact, almost the entire surface - and the old craters are clogged with new ones almost beyond recognition. Craters are large and small, light and dark, young and old, with or without rays. Craters are called by the names of various great scientists, possibly related to astronomy. This idea was introduced by those same Italians-cartographers of the 17th century - Giovanni Riccioli and Francesco Grimaldi - whose names of lunar objects stuck best of all. And in an amicable way, craters should, of course, be examined through a telescope. Only the most significant are visible on the digital photo, there are not very many of them. First - again a photo without any explanation. You already know about the sea, so pay attention to all sorts of dots and scratches.
Light points are best seen - these are they, in the sense of craters. Moreover, it is young people. The fact is that the surface of the seas is basalt, frozen lava is dark in itself. The usual continental surface is gray, it is affected by solar radiation, because of which it darkens. And what is dug up by the impact of an asteroid is light, it is the interior of the lunar crust.
Let's start with the most noticeable lunar crater - Tycho crater. This is the "navel" of the moon. Like a plug in a balloon. Its diameter is 85 kilometers (not the largest), but it is possible, for example, to shove the entire city of Istanbul into it, and there will still be room. Crater Tycho of the young - it is 108 million years old - is bright and fresh. Well-visible rays radiate from it - these are traces of lunar rock emissions after impact. It hit hard, so it flew far away; some rays stretch for thousands of kilometers and are visible as far as the Sea of \u200b\u200bClarity and beyond. In the center of the crater there is a characteristic slide.
When anything more than 26 kilometers in diameter flies into the moon, solid rock begins to behave like a liquid at the impact site. Photos of a drop falling into water, I hope everyone has seen it? In the Moon, about the same thing happens - and after the impact, the surface swells up with a backward damping wave. The crater is named in honor of the famous Danish astronomer and alchemist Tycho Brahe, who lived in the second half of the 16th century and managed to create the first scientific astronomical center in history - Uraniborg. In addition, he was the first to find out the nature of comets, with the help of his own invented instruments, he increased the accuracy of sky observations by an order of magnitude, saved Johannes Kepler from persecution - and did a lot of other heroic things. There is a stupid childhood legend about Tycho Brahe, which my mother used to tell me as a child. As if he died at a royal reception, right at the dinner table. I really wanted to write, but hesitated to go out - so the bladder ruptured. And this is kind of incompatible with life. It is not clear where this nonsense came from, maybe it even lasts since 1601: the astronomer's illness proceeded so rapidly (11 days) that many then suspected that something was wrong and began to offer versions, some more stupid than others. Until now, by the way, they are busy with the remains, they cannot determine the exact cause of death. The next crater is just the name of that young German mathematician whom Tycho Brahe wrote to him a year before his strange death. Johannes Kepler came to Prague at the invitation of the replaced astronomer in 1600 - and stayed there. Based on materials that remained from Tycho Brahe, extremely accurate for their time, Kepler derived the laws of planetary motion, which are still relevant to this day. They are called so - Kepler's Laws, and thanks to them, the heliocentric system of the world received the final scientific confirmation. If you look closely at Kepler's crater, you can also see a system of rays, although not as crazy as Tycho's. Its diameter is 32 kilometers. He is about the same time of education, but a little older. One of the rays clearly stretches from Tycho to Kepler - everything is like in life. But next to Kepler, Copernicus crater is clearly visible, also from young and with rays. Who is the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, the author of the concept "The sun is in the center", probably it is not necessary to tell. The name of this crater, like the above, was given in 1651 by the same Giovanni Riccioli, an Italian Jesuit and astronomer. What Copernicus dug deeply blew up the mainland rock under the level of the basalt sea - that's why he is all so "smart in a white coat is handsome." Copernicus' diameter is 95 kilometers, the rays stretch for 800 kilometers, its age is 80 million years. In selenochronology, a whole epoch in the history of the Moon is counted along the Copernicus crater, which continues to this day and is called the "Copernicus era". All bright craters with a whole ray system belong to this era. At the same time, Copernicus himself was formed almost at the very end.
To the left of these worthy in all respects craters is the Aristarchus crater. This is the brightest area on the Moon - which is clearly visible even in such a nasty photo. Its diameter is 45 kilometers, its age is 450 million years. It is named after the ancient Greek astronomer of the 3rd century BC. e. Aristarchus of Samos, who, oddly enough, is also considered the author of the concept "The sun is in the center". Whether Copernicus knew about his idea is considered unknown. Aristarchus is the most mysterious crater of the Moon according to all observations. First, it has a very complex bottom structure. Secondly, a variable flux of alpha particles (radon deposits) was recorded from it. And thirdly, Aristarchus holds the record for the so-called short-term lunar phenomena (KLA), which have no explanation yet. These are not just sparks from meteorites, but more complicated things: changing spots, changing brightness, fogging, multi-colored glow, and so on. In 1970, it was described how a blue spot appeared for 10 seconds in Aristarchus for three nights in a row. Then it disappeared for 10 seconds. And it appeared again. The devil knows that. In general, if you set up a household telescope on the balcony and engage in targeted observation of Aristarchus, there is a good chance to witness that humanity is unable to explain.
Here he is, handsome, in the 2012 NASA photo (sun on the left) And the side view is also not bad.
I have an eternal tension with photographs of lunar craters - it constantly seems that this is not a depression, but a bulge. A certain amount of attention is required. Just above the center of the lunar disk, near the boundaries of the Sea of \u200b\u200bClarity, there is a pair of approximately identical craters with approximately the same names - Manilius and Menelaus. Mark Manilius - Roman astrologer of the 1st century A.D. e., is known in the history of the world for the first book on astrology. It was called "Astronomicon" and was all in verse in the fashion of that time. And Menelaus is not the horned husband of Helena from Homer's poem, but even Menelaus of Alexandria, the ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer, who lived at the same time as Manilius. Menelaus is famous for his work "Spherica", in which he outlined the laws of calculating triangles lying on a ball. And there were the last two of the clearly visible craters - on the left and right on the sides of the lunar disk, like carnations. The dark carnation on the left is the Grimaldi crater, and the light on the right is Langren. I have already stated about Francesco Grimaldi above. Physicist, Jesuit monk, the one who, together with Giovanni Riccioli, gave all the main names for lunar objects. I must say that not far from it there is a crater and its colleagues, but it is poorly visible. The darkest color of the moon's surface is recorded in the Grimaldi crater. This is one of the most ancient craters, its formation is attributed to the Donektar period. The court astronomer and cartographer of the Spanish king, the Flemish Michael van Langren, who lived in the 17th century, like the Italians-Jesuits, was also engaged in lunar topography and gave his names to various objects. Another thing is that almost all of them have not survived - who is interested in the names of officials of that time. Bad choice. But the crater, which he called by his own name, unexpectedly retained its name to this day. And the last - from the modern excitement around the moon. The term "supermoon" really exists in astronomy. It means the coincidence of the full moon and the perigee of the lunar orbit. The orbit of our satellite is not an even circle with the Earth in the center, but an ellipse. And the Earth at the same time - not in the center... Therefore, the Moon either approaches us (the closest point of the orbit is perigee), then moves away (the farthest point is apogee). But even at this very perigee, the visible lunar disk increases by no more than 14%. And the visual effect of an increase in the size of the moon usually occurs always when it is low above the horizon. In this case, the atmosphere works like a lens. But not “twice as much as usual,” as some illiterate media outlets say. Moreover, the Moon is gradually moving away from the Earth at a speed of about 4 centimeters per year - this is a consequence of the history of its formation (giant collision theory). This is what the Moon looks like from Earth for a month, if you fix it every day and remove the shadows from the Sun:
This swaying is called libration, it was discovered by Galileo. There are many reasons for it, but I think that not least of all, it dangles from its turn, facing the Earth. I just haven't calmed down yet, like a pendulum in emptiness. And the very last :) Now, after these two posts, when you are in the Southern Hemisphere, pay attention to the Moon. The roof is demolished.
We got to the topic of lunar craters, but since I wrote much more than the brain can digest in one post, I had to take a break.
What to say for the craters of the moon. They are all drums. All these are traces of a superlong cosmic bombardment, which the Moon manically keeps as a keepsake. There are innumerable craters on it, in fact, almost the entire surface - and the old craters are clogged with new ones almost beyond recognition. Craters are large and small, light and dark, young and old, with or without rays.
Craters are called by the names of various great scientists, possibly related to astronomy. This idea was introduced by those same Italians-cartographers of the 17th century - Giovanni Riccioli and Francesco Grimaldi - whose names of lunar objects stuck best of all.
And in an amicable way it is necessary, of course, to look at the craters through a telescope. Only the most significant are visible on the digital photo, there are not very many of them.
First - again a photo without any explanation. You already know about the sea, so pay attention to all sorts of dots and scratches.
Light points are best seen - these are they, in the sense of craters. Moreover, it is young people. The fact is that the surface of the seas is basalt, frozen lava is dark in itself. The usual continental surface is gray, it is affected by solar radiation, because of which it darkens. And what is dug up by the impact of an asteroid is light, it is the interior of the lunar crust.
Let's start with the most noticeable lunar crater - Tycho crater. This is the "navel" of the moon. Like a plug in a balloon.
Its diameter is 85 kilometers (not the largest), but it is possible, for example, to shove the entire city of Istanbul into it, and there will still be room.
Crater Tycho of the young - it is 108 million years old - is bright and fresh. Well-visible rays radiate from it - these are traces of lunar rock emissions after impact. It hit hard, so it flew far away; some rays stretch for thousands of kilometers and are visible as far as the Sea of \u200b\u200bClarity and beyond.
In the center of the crater there is a characteristic slide. When anything more than 26 kilometers in diameter flies into the moon, solid rock begins to behave like liquid at the impact site. Photos of a drop falling into water, I hope everyone has seen it? In the Moon, about the same thing happens - and after the impact, the surface swells up with a backward damping wave.
The crater is named in honor of the famous Danish astronomer and alchemist Tycho Brahe, who lived in the second half of the 16th century and managed to create the first scientific astronomical center in history - Uraniborg. In addition, he was the first to find out the nature of comets, with the help of his own invented instruments, he increased the accuracy of sky observations by an order of magnitude, saved Johannes Kepler from persecution - and did a lot of other heroic things.
There is a stupid childhood legend about Tycho Brahe, which my mother used to tell me as a child. As if he died at a royal reception, right at the dinner table. I really wanted to write, but hesitated to go out - so the bladder ruptured. And this is kind of incompatible with life. It is not clear where this nonsense came from, maybe it even lasts since 1601: the astronomer's illness proceeded so rapidly (11 days) that many then suspected that something was wrong and began to offer versions, some more stupid than others. Until now, by the way, they are busy with the remains, they cannot determine the exact cause of death.
The next crater is just the name of that young German mathematician whom Tycho Brahe wrote to him a year before his strange death. Johannes Kepler came to Prague at the invitation of the replaced astronomer in 1600 - and stayed there. Based on materials that remained from Tycho Brahe, extremely accurate for their time, Kepler derived the laws of planetary motion, which are still relevant to this day. They are called so - Kepler's Laws, and thanks to them, the heliocentric system of the world received the final scientific confirmation.
If you look closely at Kepler's crater, you can also see a system of rays, although not as crazy as Tycho's. Its diameter is 32 kilometers. He is about the same time of education, but a little older. One of the rays clearly stretches from Tycho to Kepler - everything is like in life.
But next to Kepler, Copernicus crater is clearly visible, also from young and with rays. Who is the Polish astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus, the author of the concept "The sun is in the center", probably it is not necessary to tell. The name of this crater, like the above, was given in 1651 by the same Giovanni Riccioli, an Italian Jesuit and astronomer.
What Copernicus dug deeply blew up the mainland rock under the level of the basalt sea - that is why he is all so "smart in a white coat is handsome."
Copernicus' diameter is 95 kilometers, the rays stretch for 800 kilometers, its age is 80 million years. In selenochronology, a whole epoch in the history of the Moon is counted down on the Copernicus crater, which continues to this day and is called the "Copernicus era". All bright craters with a whole ray system belong to this era. At the same time, Copernicus himself was formed almost at the very end.
To the left of these worthy in all respects craters is the Aristarchus crater. This is the brightest area on the Moon - which is clearly visible even in such a nasty photo. Its diameter is 45 kilometers, its age is 450 million years.
It is named after the ancient Greek astronomer of the 3rd century BC. Aristarchus of Samos, who, oddly enough, is also considered the author of the concept "The sun is in the center". Whether Copernicus knew about his idea is considered unknown.
Aristarchus is the most mysterious crater of the Moon according to all observations. First, it has a very complex bottom structure. Secondly, a variable flux of alpha particles (radon deposits) was recorded from it. And thirdly, Aristarchus holds the record for the so-called short-term lunar phenomena (KLA), which have no explanation yet. These are not just sparks from meteorites, but more complicated things: changing spots, changing brightness, fogging, multi-colored glow, and so on. In 1970, it was described how a blue spot appeared for 10 seconds in Aristarchus for three nights in a row. Then it disappeared for 10 seconds. And it appeared again. The devil knows that.
In general, if you set up a household telescope on the balcony and engage in targeted observation of Aristarchus, there is a good chance to witness that humanity is unable to explain.
Here he is, handsome, in a 2012 NASA photo (sun on the left):
And the side view is good too.
I have an eternal tension with photographs of lunar craters - it constantly seems that this is not a depression, but a bulge. A certain amount of attention is required.
Just above the center of the lunar disk, near the boundaries of the Sea of \u200b\u200bClarity, there is a pair of approximately identical craters with approximately the same names - Manilius and Menelaus.
Mark Manilius is a Roman astrologer of the 1st century A.D., known in the history of the world for the first book on astrology. It was called "Astronomicon" and was all in verse in the fashion of that time.
And Menelaus is not the horned husband of Helena from Homer's poem, but even Menelaus of Alexandria, the ancient Greek mathematician and astronomer, who lived at the same time as Manilius. Menelaus is famous for his work "Spherica", in which he outlined the laws of calculating triangles lying on a ball.
And there were the last two of the clearly visible craters - on the left and right on the sides of the lunar disk, like carnations. The dark carnation on the left is the Grimaldi crater, and the light on the right is Langren.
I have already stated about Francesco Grimaldi above. Physicist, Jesuit monk, the one who, together with Giovanni Riccioli, gave all the main names for lunar objects. I must say that not far from it there is a crater and its colleagues, but it is poorly visible.
The darkest color of the moon's surface is recorded in the Grimaldi crater. This is one of the most ancient craters, its formation is attributed to the Donektar period.
The court astronomer and cartographer of the Spanish king, the Flemish Michael van Langren, who lived in the 17th century, like the Italians-Jesuits, was also engaged in lunar topography and gave his names to various objects. Another thing is that almost all of them have not survived - who is interested in the names of officials of that time. Bad choice. But the crater, which he called by his own name, unexpectedly retained its name to this day.
And the last - from the modern excitement around the moon. The term "supermoon" actually exists in astronomy. It means the coincidence of the full moon and the perigee of the lunar orbit. The orbit of our satellite is not an even circle with the Earth in the center, but an ellipse. And the Earth at the same time - not in the center... Therefore, the Moon either approaches us (the closest point of the orbit is perigee), then moves away (the farthest point is apogee). But even at this very perigee, the visible lunar disk increases by no more than 14%. And the visual effect of an increase in the size of the moon usually occurs always when it is low above the horizon. In this case, the atmosphere works like a lens.
But not "twice as much as usual" as some illiterate media outlets say.
Moreover, the Moon is gradually moving away from the Earth at a speed of about 4 centimeters per year - this is a consequence of the history of its formation (giant collision theory).
This is what the Moon looks like from Earth for a month, if you fix it every day and remove the shadows from the Sun:
This swaying is called libration, it was discovered by Galileo. There are many reasons for it, but I think that not least of all, it dangles from its turn, facing the Earth. I just haven't calmed down yet, like a pendulum in emptiness.
And the very last :) Now, after these two posts, when you are in the Southern Hemisphere, pay attention to the Moon. The roof is demolished.
Lunar crater
Lunar crater is called a bowl-shaped depression in the surface of the Moon, which has a relatively flat bottom and is surrounded by a ring-shaped raised shaft. In accordance with modern concepts, the vast majority of lunar craters are impact craters. An insignificant part of lunar craters are still considered volcanic calderas.
History and origin of craters
| A type | Typical representative | Morphological signs | Crater diameter | Picture |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ALC | Al-Battani C | A spherical crater with a sharp shaft, a smooth inner slope and a spherical bottom of the crater bowl | up to 10 km | |
| BIO | Bio | Same as ALC type but with a flat bottom in the central part of the crater bowl | 10 - 15 km |  |
| SOS | Sozigen | Flat-bottomed crater, no inner slope terraces and no central peak | 15 - 25 km |  |
| TRI | Trisnecker | The presence of a central peak (starting with a diameter of 26 km), the inner slope loses its smoothness and has signs of collapse | 15 - 50 km |  |
| TYC | Quiet | Terraced inner slope, relatively flat bowl bottom, often with a developed central peak | over 50 km |  |
Craters over 200 km in diameter lose their central peak and are called basins. Tallasoids are distinguished into a separate group - large crater formations similar in size to the round lunar seas, but unlike them, having a light bottom, not flooded with dark lava.
Notes
Links
- Wood, C.A. and L. Andersson (1978) New morphometric data for fresh lunar craters. Lunar and Planetary Science Conference, 9th, Proceedings. New York, Pergamon Press, Inc., p. 3669-3689.
- Lunar Impact Crater Database (2011) Losiak et al, LPI Lunar Exploration Intern Program (2009). Revised by Ohman, LPI (2011).
see also
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
The word "Moon" originated from the Proto-Slavic word "luna". This word is of Indo-European origin - from the word "louksna", which means "light-eyed". From the same word the Latin "luna" arose.
Scientists were able to determine the age of the moon by a method based on the decay rate of the isotope of tungsten-182, found in samples of lunar soil brought to Earth. The age of the moon stones was estimated at 4 billion 527 million years with an acceptable error of ± 30 million years.
On average, the distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,400 kilometers. The journey to the moon by car will take 130 days. The rocket trip will take 13 hours. It takes only 1.52 seconds to travel at the speed of light.
According to this theory of the origin of the Earth, the planet Theia crashed tangentially into the early Earth. This poured out rocks and debris that, under the influence of the Earth's gravity, formed a huge ring around the Earth, which later stuck together to form the Moon.
Not all full moons are the same size. Their size varies depending on whether the Moon is at apogee (far away) or perigee (nearby). The moon is typically 14% larger when it is at perigee.
When the moon is at its apogee, the ebb and flow of the tide, the weather tends to be more predictable. When the Moon is at perigee), increased gravity can create larger tides and more erratic weather.
The first full moon to come on the winter solstice, December 22, commonly referred to as the first day of winter, occurred in 1999. Since the full moon at the winter solstice occurred in conjunction with lunar perigee (the point in the Moon's orbit that is closest to Earth), the Moon appeared about 14% larger than it appears at its apogee (the point in the elliptical orbit farthest from Earth).
The moon had a once turbulent history. She was undergoing a late heavy bombardment (LHB) or "lunar cataclysm", somewhere 3-4 billion years ago. During this time, the moon was heavily covered with meteorites.
The moon is not round - it is shaped like an egg.
The core of the Moon makes up 2-4% of its mass, while the core of the Earth makes up about 30% of its mass.
The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but 400 times closer to the Earth, so from Earth, the Moon and the Sun are approximately the same size.
Moonquakesthat occur several kilometers below the surface of the Moon may be the result of the Earth's gravitational pull. Engineers say they could be the precluding factor for building lunar bases.
When the Moon was formed 4.6 billion years ago, it was 22,530 kilometers from the Earth. The moon looked 3 times larger in the sky than it does now.
Since the Moon does not have its own atmosphere, its surface temperature ranges from less than -80 ° to +200 ° Celsius, and bodies fall at the speed of free fall.
Largest impact crater in the solar system is located on the moon. It is called the South Pole Basin - Aitken. This giant crater on the far side of the moon is 2,500 kilometers in diameter.
The largest lunar crater visible from Earth (on the visible side of the Moon) is the Bayi crater, which has a diameter of 295 kilometers.
The diameter of the Moon is 3475 kilometers, which is about four times smaller than that of the Earth. Approximately 49 moons could fit into Earth.
The moon's gravity slows down the speed of the Earth's rotation. Many years ago, it spun much faster and Earth days were much shorter.
The entire surface of the Moon is covered with a layer of crushed and powdery rocks called regolith (from the Greek "rhegos" blanket + "lithos" rock). The dust is the result of being bombarded from space by tiny micrometeorites over many millions of years.
Solar eclipses occur every 1-2 years, but total eclipses can be seen only once every several hundred years. The shadow from the Moon rushes across the Earth at a speed of hundreds of kilometers per hour, so the eclipse has time to end within a few minutes.
Moonquakes reach their peak about every 14 days, while the Moon is closest to Earth.
Due to the lack of an atmosphere, there is no twilight on the moon until complete darkness and dawn. But there is a clear line that separates light and darkness, which is called the terminator.
Moonrise changes according to an 18.6-year cycle. Ancient civilizations understood this complex cycle and built architectural structures that track the movement of the moon.
During the full moon and new moon, the Moon and Sun line up with the Earth. The additional force of gravity creates high waves in the seas and oceans called "spring tides" (which have nothing to do with the season of the year). In the first and third quarters of the lunar phase, when the Sun and Moon form a right angle from Earth, the tides are weaker and are called "quadrature tides."
The moon is equal in mass to 1/6 the mass of the Earth. This means that astronaut suits, which weigh 80 kilograms on Earth, only weigh about 13 kilograms on the Moon. The world record for the long jump is about 8.95 meters. The maximum human jump on the moon is about 30 meters.
Lunar eclipses
A lunar eclipse, when the Earth is between the Sun and the Moon, lasts longer than a solar eclipse, because the Earth's shadow is much larger than the lunar.
An annular eclipse occurs when the Moon is too small to block out all sunlight and leaves a visible ring of light. This type of eclipse occurs because the Moon's orbit is not a perfect circle.
Moon rotation
The moon rotates counterclockwise from west to east.
Since one side of the moon is always facing, it takes the moon the same amount of time to rotate around the earth.
A day on the moon, from one sunrise to the next, lasts an average of about 29 Earth days. From the Moon, Earth is nearly four times the size of the full Moon as seen from Earth, and it never moves across the Moon's sky.
The earth rotates at 1000 miles per hour. The moon rotates about 100 times slower.
The rotation of the moon appears as a slight wobble, which allows you to see a small piece of the far side of the moon. However, the reverse side was completely unknown until the Soviet aircraft Luna-3 photographed it in 1959.
Moon and man
The Christian Catholic Easter is calculated according to the lunar cycle. This holiday is celebrated on the first Sunday after the first full moon following the vernal equinox.
The oldest symbols of female fertility and rebirth were associated with the Moon in many mythical traditions.
The moon as a goddess was worshiped in many ancient cultures. The ancient Greeks and Romans even had three lunar goddesses personifying the change in the phases of the moon. Artemis (Diana) was the new moon, Selena was the full moon, and Hecate was the dark side of the moon.
Aristotle and Pliny the Elder believed that the full moon affects the water in the human brain, causing insanity and irrational behavior.
The ancient Chinese believed that the heavenly dragon swallowed the sun during an eclipse. Therefore, they made a very loud noise to scare the dragon and drive him away.
In alchemy, the moon was a symbol of silver.
In astrology, the moon represents the inner nature of man. The moon sign determines the emotional and subconscious state of a person. In Western astrology, the Moon is associated with motherhood, while the Sun is associated with the father.
The moon is depicted on the coats of arms and flags of many eastern countries: Laos, Mongolia, Palau, the Sami flag, the Shan flag (Myanmar). in the form of a crescent Moon is displayed on the flags of the Ottoman Empire, Turkey, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritania, Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Pakistan, the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The oldest known map of the moon is over 5000 years old. She was found carved into a rock in the prehistoric tomb of Nose, County Meath, Ireland. Before that, the oldest known map of the moon was Leonardo da Vinci's map, which was created around 1505.
The first person to draw a map of the moon by observing it through a telescope was the British astronomer Thomas Harriet (c. 1560-1621).
In 1881, Jules Janssen compiled the first "Photographic Atlas of the Moon".
The 13,000-year-old eagle bone found in France served as a counting stick to track the phases of the moon.
Human exploration of the moon
The moon is the only place in the solar system, with the exception of Earth, where the flag of the human race flies.
The first probe to reach the lunar surface was the Soviet space probe Luna-2. He crash landed on the moon in 1959. The first probe, Luna 1, flew past Moon 3 at a distance of 5,000 kilometers.
The average desktop computer has 10 times more computing power than the one that was used to carry out the soft landing on the moon.
The Soviet Luna-9 made the first soft landing on the lunar surface, proving that a stable lunar landing is possible. Until then, astronomers are not worried that the spacecraft might sink into the lunar surface.
Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the lunar surface.
Six Apollo crews delivered a total of 385 kilograms of the Moon to Earth.
The last person to stand on the lunar surface was Eugene Cernan in 1972. The Apollo 17 crew was the last human on the moon. Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt traveled about 34 kilometers in a lunar carriage. On December 11, 1972, they left a plaque on the Moon, on which it is written: "Here Man completed his first exploration of the Moon, December 1972 AD. May the spirit of the world with which we arrived be reflected in the lives of all mankind."
The last words spoken by Eugene Cernan on the moon were: "America's challenge today determined the fate of tomorrow's people."
Since the lunar surface is devoid of air and water, an astronaut's footprint can remain on the moon for many millions of years.
Under the Outer Space Treaty, the Moon is in the same jurisdiction as international waters. The treaty also says that the moon can be used by any state only for peaceful purposes, and also prohibits the placement of weapons of mass destruction or military bases of any kind on the moon.
In November 2009, NASA announced that it had discovered water on the Moon, which could enable the development of space stations on the Moon. The water on the moon is billions of years old, which could provide scientists with clues to the history of the entire solar system.
Only 59% of the Moon is visible from Earth.
The phrase "once upon a blue moon" traditionally refers to an impossible event or an event that happens very rarely. The term "blue moon" has its roots in the old English word "belewe", which means "traitor", since the extra full moon before Lent was called the "treacherous moon". Scientists believe that eventually the word "belewe" became the word "blue" - blue.
In the middle of the 20th century, in the magazine Farmer's Almanac by Sky and Telescope, the authors mistakenly attributed the Blue Moon to the second full moon that occurs in one calendar month. The moon can indeed be bluish, but only if there are particles in the air that longer than the wavelength of red light (0.7 microns), which occurs more often during volcanic eruptions or violent forest fires.
For countries whose religions have since ancient times worshiped the moon, the New Year begins with the first new moon.
For countries professing Islam, the birth of a new moon once a year marks the arrival of the month of increased fasting - Ramadan.
The moon is the eighteenth tarot card.
There are two main types of terrain on the moon: light and dark. The vibrant terrain is called "highlands" because it is higher. Dark areas are called lunar seas (Latin for "sea") and lower in height. The highlands are, as a rule, older than the seas in origin. Scientists don't yet know why the seas, which make up 16% of the moon, are concentrated mainly on the visible side of the moon.
There is Darwin's crater on the moon. He has nothing to do with the famous researcher who came up with the theory of evolution. However, the crater is named after his son, who proposed one of the theories of the moon.
The gravitational force of the Moon relative to the Earth slows the Earth's rotation by about 1.5 milliseconds per century and lifts the Moon into a higher orbit by about 3.8 cm per year.
The compass will not work on the moon because it does not have a global magnetic field.
Although the full moon appears to be bright, it actually reflects only 7% of the sun's rays.
Strange colored lights are sometimes seen on the surface of the moon. Scientists believe these lights make gases that seep from the depths of the moon.
The words "month" and "menstruation" are associated with the word "moon".
The first manned flight to the moon on the Apollo 11 spacecraft took about 4 days and 6 hours to reach the moon.
Mercury and Venus are the only planets in our solar system that do not have moons of their own.
Although the moons in the solar system are very different from each other, they have at least two things in common: they revolve around the planet and reflect light from the sun.
There are three types of lunar rock: basalt (dark), anorthosite (light), and breccia (a mixture of several rocks). These types of rocks can also be found on Earth.
The moon is the fifth largest satellite in our solar system. It is the largest satellite in relation to the size of its planet. Jupiter has a second dense moon - Io.
The far side of the moon is actually not always dark. It reflects light as often as this side, once on a lunar day, during a new phase of the moon (when the Earth is on the side facing completely dark).
The moon does not orbit around the Earth's equator, like many other planetary moons. It has a declination of 20-30 °.
In 500 million years, the Moon will be 19,000 kilometers further from Earth than it is now. When it is this far, there will be no total eclipses.
Only 12 people have been on the moon: astronauts on the Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972.
The full moon is about five times brighter than a crescent.
The surface layer on the opposite side of the Moon is thicker.
There are a couple of main theories as to what causes craters on the Moon. One of them is based on the impact of meteorites on the surface of the satellite. The second is based on the fact that inside this celestial body, certain processes occur, which are similar in essence to volcanic eruptions. And they are the real reason. Both theories are quite controversial, and below it will be described why exactly such crater formation could occur. The moon is characterized by riddles, most of which humanity has not yet solved. And this is one of them.
Briefly about the moon
As you know, this satellite revolves around planet Earth in a relatively stable mode, periodically approaching or moving away a little. According to modern data, along the way, the Moon is gradually flying away from us further into space. Approximately this movement is estimated at 4 centimeters per year. That is, you can wait for a very long time until it flies far enough away. The moon influences more precisely - provokes them. That is, if there were no satellite, then there would be no such activity of the oceans and seas either. Since then, when people first began to gaze intently at the sky and study this celestial body, the question arose of what the craters on the moon are. A lot of time has passed since those first attempts to understand the unknown, but to this day there are only theories that have not yet been actually confirmed by anything.
Age and color of craters
A feature of such formations on the surface of the satellite is their color. The craters on the Moon, which were formed several million years ago, are considered young. They appear lighter than the rest of the surface. Their other species, whose age cannot be estimated at all, have already darkened. This is all explained quite simply. The outer surface of the satellite is quite dark due to the constant exposure to radiation. But inside the moon is bright. As a result, when the meteorite strikes, a light soil is thrown out, thereby forming a relatively white spot on its surface.
The largest craters of the moon
Since ancient times, a tradition has arisen to give different names to celestial bodies. In this case, it concerns the craters themselves. So, each of them bears the name of one of the scientists who, in one way or another, but moved the science of space forward. The most noticeable of the relatively young craters is the one called Tycho. Visually, it looks like a kind of "navel" of our satellite. The formation of craters on the Moon of this type, most likely, actually occurred due to the collision with its surface of a very large meteorite. In this case, the name comes from Tycho Brahe, who was at one time a very famous astronomer. It is a young crater with a diameter of 85 kilometers and an age of about 108 million years. Another notable formation of this kind has a diameter of "only" 32 km and bears the name of Kepler. In terms of visibility, they are followed by: Copernicus, Aristarchus, Manilius, Menelaus, Grimaldi and Langren. All these people in one way or another related to the development of science, and therefore are rightfully imprinted in history in this way.
"Shock" theory
So, back to the theories about what causes craters on the Moon. The most common and reliable of them implies that huge meteorites fell on the surface of our satellite in ancient times. In general, judging by various data, this was indeed the case, but another question arises here. If this happened, then how did such large meteorites flew around our planet and hit the satellite purposefully? That is, if there was a conversation about that side of the celestial body, which is directed into space, then everything would be clear. But with the part turned to the planet, it turns out that the satellite was bombarded directly from the surface of the Earth, which, according to the official history, simply could not be.
Internal activity theory
This is the second likely cause of craters on the Moon. Considering how little we know even about the space body closest to us, it is also quite real. It is understood that in ancient times (the same many millions of years ago) volcanic activity took place inside the satellite. Or something that might look like her. And craters are just a consequence of such events, which in general also seems to be true. It is unclear if something similar is happening there now, and if so, why humanity is not observing it. And if not, then why did it stop. As with any situation with space, there are always more questions than answers. In general, it can be assumed that the Moon at one time experienced about the same period of volcanic activity that was on our planet. Gradually, the situation has stabilized, and now it is practically invisible or absent altogether. If we take this analogy, then this is also quite possible. Unfortunately, it will be possible to get an unambiguous answer only when people finally begin to study space in more detail and in detail.
Unexplained features
In principle, everything is clear with what could be the reasons. There are so many craters on the Moon that perhaps both theories are true. However, there are certain features that do not fit into any of them. These include various regularly appearing on the surface of our satellite, in particular in craters. From them, strange radiation begins to emanate, then inexplicable colored spots appear, and so on. Until now, no one can even imagine what it is. Perhaps the matter is in the material of which the meteorite consisted, or in what burst out from the inner part of the satellite.
Craters on the Moon and the reason for their formation
And now let's return to the very theory of the origin of this celestial body. The official version, so to speak, says that the Moon was formed as a result of the collision of a satellite with the Earth's surface. Then it seemed to bounce back into space and hover there, fixed by the planet's gravity. Perhaps something like this did happen, but most likely the object that crashed into Earth was completely destroyed. The impact raised a huge amount of dust, the speed of which was so high that it entered the planet's orbit. Gradually, this material was pressed against each other, and in the final version formed a satellite.
This explains how craters were actually formed on the Moon, on the part of it that is turned towards our planet. So, at first, the dust formed small objects that gradually collided with each other and merged, becoming larger and larger. Over time, a base was created of the largest size possible in such a situation. A huge number of other, smaller particles already flying in orbit began to crash into it, reacting to the resulting force of gravity. Naturally, among such elements were so large that craters we now know have created.
Outcome
Space is a complete mystery. People do not yet have the opportunity to study everything so thoroughly that the questions disappear. This applies to both other galaxies or stellar systems, and the nearest celestial body to us. Perhaps in the near future the situation will change, because now preparations are underway for the construction of a base on the Moon, the study of Mars, and so on.