The moon is an invariable natural satellite of the Earth that is so familiar to every person. It ranks fifth in size and second in density of all known satellites in the solar system. Scientists have been studying this object in the earthly firmament for a long time, and they managed to reveal incredible facts. Today you will discover 15 of the most curious facts about the moon: moonquakes, the effect of full moons on your sleep cycle, and even lunar time zones.
15. Moonquakes
Moonquakes are much weaker than earthquakes, and they happen less often, but they can be up to 5.5 on the Richter scale. These oscillations of the lunar surface are divided into 4 groups: meteorite - due to the fall of meteorites; tectonic - irregular, caused by movements in the soil of the moon; thermal - they are caused by the sharp heating of the lunar surface with the rising of the Sun; and tidal, which occur twice a month, are caused by the tidal forces of the Sun and Earth. Moonquakes usually last 10 minutes, while earthquakes last only a couple of minutes.
14. Lunar debris
Astronauts who have visited the moon left a lot of debris on it, but they are only partly to blame for the pollution. The total mass of all artificial objects that have reached the surface of the Earth satellite is more than 180 tons. These are all kinds of items and equipment left by the crews of manned spacecraft, automatic spacecraft designed to reach the lunar surface.
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13. Lunar cemetery
Why rest after death on Earth, when several companies, including Elysium, specialize in burying the ashes of earthlings on the Moon? The cost of burying a capsule with ashes on the Moon will cost about 12 thousand dollars. Incidentally, one of the first enthusiasts to go into space after death was Gene Roddenberry, the creator of the science fiction television series Star Trek. In 1997, his ashes were launched in a special capsule into space on the Pegasus rocket.
12. Moon dust
The lunar surface is constantly being destroyed and transformed, undergoing thermal deformations and the effects of micrometeoric bodies. It is believed that even the most durable object can break with prolonged contact with moon dust. Moon dust is 50% silicon dioxide and half oxides of twelve different metals, including aluminum, magnesium and iron, and it smells like burnt gunpowder.
11. The influence of the moon on human sleep
Several years ago, the Swiss chronobiologist Christian Cayochen of the University of Basel conducted a sleep study in which 30 volunteers participated. The main goal was to determine the influence of the Moon on human biorhythms. During the full moon, it turned out, the volunteers took an average of five minutes longer to fall asleep, and they slept 20 minutes less, and their brain activity dropped by about 30%.
10. Lunar time zones
In 1970, the Helbros Watches Company asked Kenneth L. Franklin, who was the chief astronomer at New York's Hayden Planetarium, to create a clock that would show the time on the lunar surface. This clock measured time in "lunations" - the time it takes for the moon to orbit the earth. Each lunation corresponds to 29.530589 days on Earth. Franklin determined lunar time according to the standard time zones on Earth, but based on meridians that are 12 degrees wide.
9. The moon is not as ancient as previously thought
Before scientists obtained samples of the lunar soil, they did not know anything about when and how the moon formed. However, new information obtained through a detailed study of samples from the Moon made it possible to determine the age of the Moon - 4.53 billion years, that is, it is 10 million years younger than the Earth.
8. The moon affects the ebb and flow of the seas and oceans
The only phenomenon that visibly demonstrates the effect of the attraction of the moon is the effect on the ebb and flow. The moon is held in its orbit around the Earth for the reason that there are gravitational forces between these two celestial bodies, attracting them to each other. The Earth always strives to attract the Moon to itself, and the Moon attracts the Earth to itself. Since the oceans are large masses of fluid and can flow, they are easily deformed by the gravitational forces of the moon.
7. The moon is moving away from the Earth
Because of the ocean ebb and flow between the surface of the Earth and the waters of the oceans, a friction force arises that slows down the speed of the Earth's rotation around its axis. Our days are gradually becoming longer and longer, every century the length of the day increases by about two thousandths of a second. Just imagine, once a day lasted only 5 hours! In addition, the speed of the Moon in its orbit is constantly increasing. As a result, the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a speed of about 4 cm per year.
6. In total, 12 astronauts have visited the lunar surface
In the period from 1969 to 1972, 6 flights with a landing on the moon were performed under the Apollo program. In total, 12 US astronauts landed on the Earth's satellite, among them the first were Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
5. The moon is not round
According to scientists, the shape of the moon is similar to that of a lemon. Most of the changes in the lunar surface are due to tidal effects that took place during the early formation of the satellite. Billions of years ago, the Moon was closer to Earth. Researchers believe that it was the impact of the Earth's tidal forces that caused the moon to take the shape of a lemon.
4. Lunar pareidolia
Dark spots on the surface of the moon are perceived by the human eye in different ways. For example, people in China, Japan and Korea see a rabbit baking rice cakes among the lunar craters. No less popular images: a person's face, a woman, a toad, a tree, a palm print.
3. Large, but not comparable to the Earth
The size of the Moon is about 1/4 the size of the Earth, its radius is 1735.5 km, its diameter is 3475 km, and its equatorial circumference is 10917 km. The lunar surface area is approximately 38 million square meters. km, which is 0.075 of the Earth's surface area.
2. The magnetic field of the moon
Scientists have discovered that Earth's satellite once possessed an intense magnetic field. The satellite's magnetic field was extremely powerful 3.56 billion years ago. The moon's ancient magnetic field was as strong as the present magnetic field of the earth's surface. At this time, the satellite's magnetic field is almost a thousand times weaker.
1. The color of the moon
Our natural satellite has a "cement" color, while dark areas were formed as a result of ancient volcanic eruptions. But why does the Moon "change" color so often? The moon has a pure white color only during the day. This is because the blue light scattered by the sky is added to the yellowish light of the Moon itself. As the blue color of the sky weakens after sunset, it becomes more and more yellow, and near the horizon it becomes as orange and even red as the setting sun.