Wednesday, April 4, 2012

Wondering about the Moon.


The moon has been the subject of many folklore, old wive’s tales, and superstitions, and it has been blamed for earth quakes, romantic situations, the birth of babies (refer back to romantic situations), luck or lack there of, and much, much more.  Could any these be true?  Well, like most folklore, there is or was some truth to all of it.
Let us start with earth quakes.  I would say that it could have an affect.  Did you know that the spring tide lineup of the Sun and Moon makes our entire planet flex about nine inches?  That just may be the extra nudge that built up stresses in the earth’s crust needs to create an earth quake.
Now for romantic situations and the birth of babies; you may have to get someone a lot younger than I am to explain the romantic part, but I can tell you what it has in common with the birth of babies.  If the romantic part of a full moon is correct, than maybe the birth of babies is correct, also.  Why, because the average 266 days of pregnancy almost match the 265.5 days it takes for the moon to complete nine cycles of 29.5 days from Full Moon to Full Moon.  Which also means that most conceptions took place during the full moon.

Some other interesting facts are that the far side looks nothing like the side of the moon that faces earth.

When something collides with the moon, whether a meteorite or space junk, the moon rings like a giant gong.

The moon’s orbit around earth never closes on itself; the moon does not end an orbit where it began it.  The moon swivels around us every nine years.

Unlike most of the moons of other planets, our moon does not circle the planet’s equator.

The moon is one of nature’s rare almost perfect spheres.  It is only 4 miles out of round.

The full moon’s surface can heat up to over 200 degrees and can radiate some of that heat to earth’s lower atmosphere raising its temperature .04 degrees.

The full moon is the only heavenly body we know of that seems to be equally bright from the center to the edge.  In all other heavenly spheres, the brightness drops off near the edges.  This brightness to the edge makes the moon look flat.

By the way, the moon always makes an interesting telescopic subject, the shadows are always changing and it doesn’t look the same on different nights.  In fact it can change while you are watching it.

Now, I don’t suppose you will ever look at the full moon the same again.  Wait until next month (May 2012) and the full moon will be the largest and closest until 2014.  You may want to take a look.  Remind me to do so, as I have a tendency to forget things that far in the future.  You all have a great day now and don’t strain your necks looking at the moon.

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for the Space lesson Professor Moonie :-)

    Is your big telescope good enough for you to be able to pick out the NASA landing sites on the Moon where they left Luna Landers?

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  2. Maybe that's why my Dad said that baby won't come til the full moon,,,lol

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  3. Very interesting - lots of stuff I didn't know about the moon. Now I wonder why - why doesn't our moon circle around the equator, how did it get to be nearly perfectly round, etc?

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  4. I just picked up a nice spotter scope from my dad. Should be perfect for moon gazing.

    When I was in the Fire Department, we really were busier on full moon nights -and the calls were crazier.

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  5. Also Easter is determined by the moon

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  6. Ben, I can see the rocks in the center of small craters, the mountains coming up over the ridge, the shadows, but not the lunar lander. That is just a wee bit too small to see with even my 16 inch telescope.

    Trouble, they say that more babies are born during the full moon, but I don't believe that is true. Can not find any facts to verify that.

    Gypsy, it's orbit around earth is similar to someone using a hula-hoop. Wouldn't it be boring if it came up and set in the same place all the time.

    Sixbears, The most interesting viewing is along the terminator. That dividing line where the there is light on one side and dark on the other. When you get up to the mountains, check it out every night you can. You will see different things each night.

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  7. where does the saying, "once in a Blue Moon" come from? and when is the next one? I've seen white, yellow, orange but never blue. Bet it's got something to do with reflected water or water vapor or that little guy and his ray-gun from Mars on the Bugs Bunny cartoon.

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  8. Jimkabob, I will check on that and get back to you before the next blue moon.

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  9. In case you want know right now, it is the third full moon in a single season.

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  10. The full moon has always been special to us...our first date (many many years ago) with my now husband was on the night of a full moon. From our front porch we can watch the full moon rise over the mountains...it is so beautiful. They both still take my breath away..the moon and my husband. Ha!

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  11. Ain't, our moon is special and I am glad you feel that way, both for the moon and your husband. I bet the the moon and the night sky are so much brighter in the desert.

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