This mysterious planet, located 384,403 km from Earth, has given rise to myths and superstitions for thousands of years. But sometimes truth is not perceived with such a desire as fiction. Here are some facts that will make you see the night sky a little differently.
There is trash on the moon and even a graveyard
Most of the 200 tons of debris on the moon is space debris. It was abandoned by NASA astronauts who landed on the planet during the Apollo spacecraft in 1969-1972. Another part of the debris remained from unmanned flights carried out by space centers in the USA, Japan, India, Russia and European countries.
The oldest debris on the moon are spacecraft that were sent to study the planetary surface and determine if ships could land on it.
In 1960, it was hypothesized that the planet's surface is most likely covered with quicksand, which is able to absorb space rocks that fall on its surface.
Automatic probes installed on the moon testified the opposite: they showed that humans are able to land on the planet.
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The moon is also home to artificial satellites that were sent to map the area in detail, but later crashed on the planetary surface, becoming part of a pile of debris.
Abandoned cameras, backpacks, photographs and golf balls can be found on the moon. The planet also contains the ashes of Eugene Shoemaker, one of the founders of planetary science. It was sent to NASA in a polycarbonate capsule.
The moon affects health
In the Middle Ages, scientists and philosophers believed that the full moon causes various attacks, provokes episodic fever and rheumatism. Due to the connection between the moon and unusual behavior, the victims were called insane.
The moon disappears
Each year, the Moon's orbit moves about four centimeters from Earth, which means that in just 500 million years, the Moon will be 23,450 km further than it is now.
Fresh footprints on the lunar surface
Man set foot on the moon more than four decades ago, and yet fresh prints are present. Is this fact evidence of the existence of life on the planet? No, they're just astronaut footprints. Since there is no wind or water on the moon, footprints can last for millions of years.
The full moon may keep you awake
In a small study from the University of Basel in Switzerland, people closest to the full moon experienced less deep sleep, their brains received less melatonin, and their time to sleep was lengthened by five minutes. Sleep researcher Marie Dumont, who was not involved in this scientific study, suggests that the full moon may indirectly affect the body's biological clock.
The truth about the bloody moon
At the end of September 2015, many people could watch the Moon take on an eerie shade of red. But, despite the warning of the werewolf invasion and the warning of the apocalypse, science defines the so-called "bloody" moon as a purely astrological phenomenon, when the earth casts a rusty shadow on the surface of the moon.
Shadows are darker on the moon than on earth
Astronauts on the moon immediately noticed that their shadows were much darker than on Earth. The atmosphere that scatters light to create shadows on Earth is absent on the Moon. The earth is sufficiently illuminated by the sun for shadows to still appear, but these shadows are much more difficult to see than on the moon.
There are earthquakes on the moon
It is a solid scientific fact that, like the Earth, the Moon has a crust that changes. Moon rays can occur when the lunar crust warms up and expands, or they can be triggered by meteor impacts. While the rays do not reach the same level of intensity as earthquakes, they can shine for much longer, since the planet does not have water to combat seismic vibrations.
The planet has its own time zone
It is called "lunar standard time", but it does not correspond to simple time on Earth. The time on the Moon is completely different than on Earth: the year on the Moon is divided into twelve "days". Every "day" bears the name of an astronaut whose foot has walked the planet.
"Days" are subdivided into 30 "cycles", which in turn are subdivided into hours, minutes and seconds. The calendar originated when Neil Armstrong first walked the Moon: Year 1, Day 1, Cycle 1 began on July 21, 1969 at 02:56:15 UTC.
The moon has a huge range of temperatures
You probably think of Earth as a planet located in the habitable, temperate zone of our solar system. Planets closer to the Sun are much hotter, while planets orbiting farther have colder temperatures. But the Moon has intense temperatures at both ends of the spectrum given how close it is to our life-friendly planet. During the day, temperatures can reach 200 degrees Fahrenheit. However, at the poles of the moon, temperatures are around minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This discrepancy is due to the lack of an atmosphere on the planet.
Maya Muzashvili