Monday, August 4, 2014

Wondering About The Moon and Lizzy.

I have a question for you all.  Which side of the moon has the thickest crust?  I will answer that question later on in this posting.  But now I want to go back to 1892 on this date.  That is when Lizzie Borden's parents were found dead.  Lizzie took an ax to them.  Her father, Andrew, was found lying in a pool of blood on the couch in the living room.  His face had been nearly split in two.  Her stepmother, Abby, was upstairs with her head smashed to pieces.  Now, take a look at this innocent looking young lady and ask yourself, could she have really done that to her parents?  That is what the jury asked themselves and came up with the answer that, no, she couldn't.  They set her free.

I bet you all have heard the infamous rhyme:
                   
                              Lizzie Borden took an axe,
                              And gave her mother forty whacks:
                             When she saw what she had done,
                             She gave her father forty-one.


Since her parents were very well to do, she lived out her life in luxury.  I guess in this case, crime did pay.

Now back to the moon.  The nearest side (the one we see from Earth) is 16 miles thick.
 
The far side (The one we never see from Earth) is over twice as thick at 37 miles thick.

Now, how many of you got the answer right?  How many of you can't get the Lizzie Borden rhyme out of your mind?  There is no need to thank me for this (grin), it was my pleasure.  Now have a great day and be very, very careful with axes, you hear?

12 comments:

  1. Wow, nothing but questions!
    How do we know how think the moon's crust is & why is the far side twice as think?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. To answer the first part: Nasa's twin lunar orbiters (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) orbited the moon from March to December of 2012. They determined what the interior of the moon held. It had a small core but a thick crust, and the crust was thicker on the "dark" side. Why? They are not sure but believe it was caused by a second big impact which may have been a smaller moon which added material to its crust..

      Delete
  2. Was Lizzy Borden the OJ Simpson of the 19th Century? Did they find out who did it ? Amazing how if someone comes up with a catchy little ditty of a ryhme, it can make you famous, or infamous for centuries. Like Little Jack Horner, or that young lady from Nantucket.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You always know how to get a big laugh out of me. She wasn't exactly the same as the young lady from Nantucket. At least, I don't think she was. And yes, I guess she was the OJ from the 19th century.

      Delete
  3. I wonder what is under the moon's crust. Maybe it is like a Tootsie Pop with chocolate in the middle.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Directly under the moon's crust is the mantle which is made up of dense rock and silica, magnesium, and iron.

      Delete
  4. Wonder what led Lizzie to do such a thing? I can understand your boss or a co-worker (angel face)...but your parents? Well, she did get away with murder.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't have any idea why, unless she wanted the money without parental supervision. Could she have been that greedy?!?!

      Delete
  5. Just how do you measure 37 miles of thickness on the moon, when everything is done in slow motion anyway? You'll be the one with the answer, Dizzy.
    And do we really know that Lizzie was guilty? My knowledge of history is not so good in that department ~

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. NASA has twin orbiters at the moon that are in constant touch between themselves and the earth. The amount of deviation between them tells them the moon's mass and gravity field.

      Delete
  6. Watched the movie a while back. She and her sister lived out their lives in the family home. Her sister, in the movie, knew she did it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Did the movie give a reason for her killing her parents?

      Delete