Interesting Facts About The Moon

The moon has a huge effect on this planet and everyone on it. You might be thinking that it is too far away to have that much of an impact. The moon has a direct effect on tides actually to be accurate the moon actually causes the ocean's tides. Just like earth has its own gravity which is what holds us on the ground, the moon also has gravity which although its not as strong as earth's it still has an effect all the way here on earth. It is the moons gravity that causes the tides, basically it pulls at the ocean making more water bulge in the direction of the moon. It is very cool that even though the moon is 384,000 km (238,855 miles) from earth it still has a major impact on our planet.

Full Moon

Mitch Diamond

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Have you ever noticed that no matter when you look at the moon the shapes that you can see on its surface always look the same. That is because it is, here on earth we only ever get to see one side of the moon. It is called "Tidally Locked" and is caused again by gravity. The earth's gravity is a lot stronger than the moon's and that is why the moon orbits us instead of the other way around. The moon happens to be slightly egg shaped which is caused by the tidal locking to earth. Earth's gravity exerts a great force on the geology of the moon creating a bulge in the direction of Earth. So unless we are lucky enough to be astronauts we will never get to see the far side of the moon.

What is really interesting about tidal locking is that the attraction is mutual. Just as the Earth's gravity has caused the moon's rotation, the moon is slowly doing the same to Earth. That means that eventually the moon's influence on earth will slow its rotation down so much that the moon will only be seen from one hemisphere and always be fixed in one point of the sky.

As the Moon moves around the Earth not only does it cause the Ocean's water to bulge it also has an effect on the geology of our planet as well. This effect is said to contribute towards the effect that causes our planets tectonic plates.

Moon

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The largest most visible crater that you can see on the moon is called Tycho. You can actually see Tycho with the naked eye during a full moon. If you have a look at the picture above you can see Tycho in the top right of the moons surface. This particular crater happens to be the youngest crater on the near side of the moon, it is believed to be about 109 million years old. The crater itself is about 85kms (53 miles) across and is said to be created by a 9-10km (6 miles) asteroid.

Now I should mention the maria which are the dark patches on the moon. The sea of tranquility the landing site of the first manned mission to the moon is not really a sea it is one of these maria. The maria are ancient lava flow basins, these are remnants of a time before the moon cooled down to much for volcanic activity to continue.

If you have any questions about the moon or know of any other facts you would like to share then please leave a comment.  

If you would like to know more about our solar system visit Fun Facts About The Solar System.

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Remember; question everything!