Collisions and Bombardments

Many scientists believe that the moon is a result of a collision during the early years of the solar system. A planet about the size of Mars and another that was nearly the size of Earth collided and the moon was part of the detritus. When the moon was new, scientists hypothesized that it was covered in magma, or molten rock. As time went on, the magma cooled and formed iron, olivine and magnesium silicates that sank beneath the surface. Meanwhile the infant moon was subject to bombardment by other celestial bodies.

Regolith

The billions of years of being struck by meteors, comets, and asteroids have caused the moon’s surface to be filled with a powdery layer of soil called regolith. The depth of the regolith can vary between 6.5 to 66 feet. The composition of the regolith depends where on the moon it’s found. The lunar highlands have abundant amounts of aluminum and silica, while the regolith of the lunar “seas” are full of iron and magnesium.

Lunar Maria

Maria means oceans, although these oceans don’t have water. They’re the result of volcanic eruptions that deposited basalt, a volcanic rock, on the surface of the moon. Basalt is dark and that’s why these look like dark areas on the moon. Some of the volcanic eruptions also produced glass, which is commonly found even after eruptions on Earth. These small glass spheres contain titanium, which gives them their color. Green spheres have the smallest amounts of titanium, and the red spheres have the most.

The Pre-Historic Moon

We do know that even pre-humans used the light of the moon at night to hunt. Dinosaurs, for example, often primarily hunted at night. Other animals utilized the aura of the moon to hunt and feed as well, including several species of raptors, and many other reptilian creatures that roamed the earth before people did.

Moon In Religion

The moon is a common element in many Roman and Greek myths as well. Luna was the Roman goddess of the moon. In stories, Luna is said to drive her silvery chariot across the night sky, which is why people standing on earth could see the moon slowly move through the heavens. In Ancient Egypt, Isis is the Goddess of the Moon. There are a lot of stories about Isis, but she was considered the most powerful deity in Ancient Egypt, overthrowing Ra, the Sun God, by making him ill.

Modern Moon

In 1959, the first successful mission to the moon was documented. Russian astronauts landed an unmanned shuttle, which brought back hundreds of pounds of rocks to study. A decade later, the United States won the “Space Race” by putting the first people on the moon. July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on Apollo 11. It is from this notorious moon mission, we hear the words of those first astronauts saying, “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

It is impossible to say when or how the moon was discovered. We can gather, however, from the role the moon has played throughout religion, art, and other works of literature, that the moon has been a source of fascination and wonder since the very first humans ever walked the earth.

The Moon’s Revolution Cycle

The rising of the Moon is directly linked to its revolution cycle. The Moon takes approximately 27.3 days to complete one revolution around the Earth. The Moon revolves around the Earth in the same direction as the Earth rotates on its own axis; which is east to west. This means when the Earth completes a rotation on its own axis the Moon is ahead by 1/27.3 of a full revolution around the Earth. The Moon will rise on the horizon once the Earth completes its 24 hour rotation on its own axis and turns for another 1/27.3 days.

The significance of 1/27.3 days

1/27.3 days when translated into time works out to be roughly 50 minutes. With each passing day the Moon will rise approximately 50 minutes later than it did the previous night and set 50 minutes later too. The Moon follows this pattern for a month after which the cycle begins again. This is because the Moon takes around one month to orbit the Earth.

Change in rising point of the Moon

The Moon does not rise at the same point every night. The Moon rises at different positions on the horizon because its trajectory around the Earth tips towards the Earth’s equator at 5 degrees angle. While the Moon orbits around the Earth its position with the Sun is constantly changing. As it moves around the Earth it rises in the east, moving either north or south depending on the time of the year.

Where the moon is depends on the time of day and the day of the month. This is because the moon continually orbits around the Earth. Each orbit takes about 27.3 days.

Because the Earth is also spinning on its own axis, the moon will only be visible to an observer on Earth for a few hours each day. Even though the moon can be seen to rise in the east and go down or set in the west, it is actually traveling in a west to east direction around the Earth. This means that moonrise will be later each day because the moon has moved further to the east since the previous day.

Hidden Moon

The moon will not be visible to all parts of the Earth every day. Because of its orbital path around the Earth, the moon may remain below the horizon depending where on Earth the observer is.

Most people associate the moon with the night sky. This is because the moon appears much brighter when the Earth is dark. In reality, the moon is in a visible position just as much during the day as at night. Each new moon rises in the east at the same time as the sun. During daytime, it may be difficult to see the moon.

Speed of Orbit

The moon travels around the Earth at around 2,300 mph. Given its size and relative proximity to Earth, it is easy to observe the moon moving. If you hold a book against a window so that just a tiny bit of the right-hand side of the moon is visible, you will clearly see the moon emerging quite quickly from behind the book.

So, where is the moon relative to Earth? The moon does not orbit the Earth in a perfect circle. Its orbit is elliptical in shape, more like a football than a soccer ball. The elliptical shape of the orbit means that the moon’s distance from the Earth varies somewhat. At its closest, the moon is 221,457 miles from Earth, and at its furthest it’s 252,712 miles.

The Moon is Older than Life

The analysis of moon rocks brought back by various manned missions to the moon has established beyond doubt that the moon is almost as old as the earth itself. The generally held belief in the scientific community is that the moon formed as a result of a massive collision between the earth and a huge meteor.

This resulted in a massive explosion of material into space. That material congealed together to form the moon, and gravity held the moon in orbit around the earth. These events took place long before the first life forms developed on earth. Therefore, the moon has been a visible feature in the sky to every creature with eyes that has ever lived.

Phases of the Moon

The earliest humans were fully aware of the presence of the moon, because the moon is, and always has existed before life. However, the moon looks different at different stages of its orbit. The appearance ranges from a thin sliver of light during the crescent moon to the full disc visible during the full moon. The way the moon differs in appearance is referred to as the phases of the moon.

It is quite probable that early civilizations would not have realized that the different phases of the moon visible in the sky were, in fact, different aspects of the same body or object in the sky. We never established who discovered that the different phases were of the same moon.

The key question is how could the earliest life-forms leave the ocean environment and adapt to live on land? It is almost certain the moon played a vital role in the transition.

Tides

Because of its proximity to Earth, the moon exerts a strong gravitational pull on the Earth. It is this gravitational pull that causes the oceans to rise and fall in what we call tides.

The effect of tidal flow is most noticeable on coastlines. Twice every day the water level rises and then recedes again. Every time the sea recedes, numerous plants and animal organisms are left stranded in pools or clinging to rocks. These living organisms have had to adapt to living outside their normal environment. Eventually, many organisms adapted to spend all their time outside the sea, giving rise to all life on land.

Without the moon being present, tidal flow would be barely noticeable and there would be less opportunity for sea creatures to adapt to a land environment. It is possible that life on land could have developed without tidal flow but it is unlikely it would have done so as quickly (relatively speaking) as it did.

Climate

Why the moon is important in influencing the Earth’s climate is also significant. The moon’s gravity has the effect of slowing down the Earth’s rotation. If the Earth’s rotation were faster, then every day would be shorter. Shorter days would result in the temperature on Earth taking a substantial drop because there would be less time for the sun to heat the Earth. This would have a major impact on food production.