Category Man and the Moon

Why do meteors crash on the surface of the Moon?

          You might have observed the sudden flash of a bright moving object in the night sky. These bright trails are left by pieces of rocks in outer space, known as meteors. Millions of meteors speed towards our Earth every day, but they burn up due to the friction caused by Earth’s atmosphere.

          The Moon does not have an atmosphere to blanket itself. Therefore, there is no friction that would burn the pieces of rock approaching the Moon at great speeds. As a result, they crash on the surface of the Moon, forming lunar soil.

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Are there moon rocks?

          The Moon’s surface not only has mountains, it also has rocks. Scientists found out that these moon rocks are similar to the igneous rocks on the Earth. They too are formed when molten lava solidifies after cooling down. But, their chemical make-up is different from that of the rocks found on Earth.

          Moon rocks do not contain any traces of water. Much of the Moon’s surface is covered by tiny pieces of rocks, and dust. This is known as lunar soil.

          It takes billions of years to form lunar soil. It is formed when large and small pieces of rocks rain on the surface of the Moon. Unlike the Earth, there is less iron on lunar soil.

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What does the surface of the Moon look like?

          When seen with the naked eye from the Earth, the Moon looks like a smooth sphere, just like the globe, with dark and light patches here and there.

          A telescopic view of the Moon suggests otherwise. It would not be wrong if someone says that the Moon looks like cheese! Its surface has lots of holes and sometimes, it appears yellowish as well.

          The dark patches on the surface of the Moon are lowlands of rock. These areas were once thought to be water bodies by Galileo. It’s covered by a thin layer of rocky soil. On the other hand, the lighter areas are known as highlands. The highlands are mountainous and rough.

          Huge craters are found in the mountainous areas. Craters are found in the lowlands as well, but in much fewer numbers. The surface is barren and the sky always appears dark.

Picture Credit : Google

 

What are the other popular theories about the formation of the Moon?

          Since a lot many people wondered about the Moon, we have several theories about its formation. Though we still don’t know exactly how the Moon came into existence, these theories are based on scientific explanations.

          The Capture Theory suggests that the Moon was a planet that once moved in its orbit around the Sun. The Earth, with its greater gravitational force pulled the Moon towards our planet. The Co-formation Theory suggests that the Earth and Moon were formed at the same time from a cloud of dust and gas.

          It was George Howard Darwin, Charles Darwin’s son who proposed the Fission Theory. According to G H Darwin, the Earth spun so fast in the early years that a bulge formed on one of its sides. After a while, the Sun’s gravitational pull tore off this bulge. It fell off in space and later formed the Moon.

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Is the Moon younger than the Earth?

          There are many theories that try to explain how the Moon was formed. ‘The Impact Theory’ is a popular one among them. This theory suggests that the Moon is younger than the Earth though it is billions of years old.

          The Impact Theory talks about something that happened about 4.5 billion years ago. Back then, the Earth did not have any satellites. A huge body about the size of Mars hit our planet. This shook off the Earth from its orbit as a result of which, portions of the Earth broke.

          Gradually, these broken pieces came together along with gas and dust, and solidified to form the Moon. This unification had other effects however; molten lava oozed out from the interior of the Moon for the next two billion years.

Picture Credit : Google

 

 

Who was the first person to closely observe the Moon?

          Ever since Man started looking at the Moon with his naked eyes, he was curious to learn about this brightly shining heavenly body. It was an Italian scientist who closely observed the Moon for the first time. His name was Galileo Galilei.

          It happened in 1609. Galileo built an equipment called telescope that made objects in space look larger and closer.

          For centuries, scientists had believed that the Moon had a smooth surface. Galileo shattered this belief; he observed that the Moon’s surface was not so smooth; instead it had mountains, pits, valleys, shadows and other features, just like the surface of the Earth. He thought the vast dark shadowy areas to be seas of water and called them ‘maria’, the Latin word for sea. Galileo’s work laid the foundation for modern studies in astronomy.

Picture Credit : Google