Welcome to Top10Archive! At the end of each day, typically no matter what part of the
world you’re in, a cratered orb illuminates the night sky. We know it best as our moon,
but have you stopped to think what you really know about that natural satellite in the sky?
Journey with us back into the deep of space for these 10 amazing facts about the moon!
10. A Lunar Time Zone Some of us have a hard enough time converting
the time zones on Earth, but there’s actually a 25th zone you may not be aware of. It’s
called Lunar Standard Time and, just as it sounds, it’s the conversion for figuring
out what day and time it is on the Moon using your local data. Say, for instance, you’re
in the Pacific Time Zone, or GMT – 8, and it’s December 13, 2016 at 1:46. On the moon,
it would be November 8th, 1949 at 11:26 in the morning. The massive jump from 2016 to
1949 is mostly thanks to the Moon’s rotational period, which is equivalent to just under
30 Earth days. 9. Lunar Phases
You’ve probably heard about the lunar phases, specifically the full moon, and the myth about
how it alters human behavior. So, what are the different phases of the moon and what,
precisely, do they mean? Based on the relative position of the Moon and the stage of its
orbit, we on Earth are treated to what looks like different slivers of a lunar pie. At
all times, the sun is lighting ½ of the moon, leaving a shadowed half. If the Sun, the Moon,
and Earth are in approximate alignment, you either get a Full or New moon, depending on
if the lit or shadowed side of the moon is facing Earth. The other phases - First Quarter,
Waxing Gibbous, Waning Gibbous, Third Quarter, Waning Crescent, and Waxing Crescent – are
created based on our perception and how much of the lit and shadowed portions of the Moon
we see. 8. Size of the Moon
Compared to Earth, the Moon’s diameter is almost 5,000 miles or about 8,000 kilometers
smaller, but it looks quite a bit bigger when compared against some of the other natural
satellites in our galaxy. At 2,158 miles or 3,472 kilometers in diameter, the Moon is
the 5th largest natural satellite and over 258 miles or 415 kilometers larger than the
next largest satellite, Jupiter’s Europa. Beating out our Moon in size are Ganymede,
Callisto, and Io of Jupiter and Saturn’s Titan.
7. Helium-3 How we are going to sustain life on Earth
is a question of concern as we continue to burn through fossil fuels, but it’s possible
that the answer is only 238,900 miles or about 384,500 kilometers away. The substance is
Helium-3, a non-radioactive helium isotope that is rare on Earth but is found in abundance
on our satellite. Known for its use in nuclear fusion research, MRI scans, and its viability
in cryogenics, Helium-3 has turned into a sought after material that countries like
China are setting its sights on. According to Professor Ouyang Ziyuan of the Chinese
Lunar Exploration Program, the Moon’s supply of Helium-3 could meet our energy demands
for upwards of 10,000 years. The United Nations Outer Space Treaty proposes that the Moon’s
resources are for mankind and not one nation, which could prove a rocky area when China,
Russia, and the United States implement their proposed mining operations.
6. Dennis Hope, Galactic Realtor As we mentioned, the United Nations Outer
Space Treaty clearly indicates that the Moon is the property of mankind as a whole, meaning
no nation can claim it as their own. In the early 80s, desperate American, Dennis M. Hope
took the verbiage of the treaty to mean that the Moon was unowned land and, needing money,
filed a claim of ownership with the UN. When he received no response, he proceeded to subdivide
and sell the property to whoever was willing to pay the cost. Hope made so much off of
his scheme that in 1995, he was able to quit his job and turn to galactic real estate.
Along with the Moon, Hope also claimed acreage on Mars, Venus, Mercury, and Jupiter’s moon,
Io. Thinking long-term, Hope formed the democratic republic of the “Galactic Government”
and spent 3 years writing a constitution to protect his property from the inevitable intervention
of much larger nations. 5. Lunar Conspiracies
We’ve all heard about the group of people that refuse to believe we landed on the Moon
but did you know the conspiracies don’t just end there? Along with claims that the
1969 Moon landing was fake, there’s also a theory, the Hollow Moon hypothesis, that
claims the moon is really an alien spacecraft. Initially proposed by Soviet Academy of Sciences
members Michael Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov in 1970, the theory states that the Moon is
a planetoid devised from advanced technology for the purpose of… well… the aliens haven’t
quite said why, yet. A little less drastic than the Hollow Moon theory is the alleged
discovery of a secret alien base by pictures from the Soviet Union’s Luna 13 spacecraft,
which is believed to have been substantiated by photographs taken by the Chinese.
4. Distance Over Time Some relationships just don’t work, and
it appears the one between the Moon and Earth is a little rocky. Like lovers that spend
so much time together but never say a word, the distance between the two is gradually
increasing. Of course, we know that the Moon follows an elliptical orbit and is at varying
distances based on this orbit, but the average distance between Earth and its satellite is
changing at a rate of 1.48 inches or about 3.78 centimeters per year. As the Moon affects
our tides, the increased distance can alter life on our home world. Days can slow down
to longer than a 24-hour period and seasonal differences across the globe can be far more
drastic. The one upside to this is that any drastic changes will take billions of years
to show. 3. The Dark Side of the Moon
No matter how you look at it, there is an entire side of the Moon that we will never
see from Earth. Due to the slower rotation of the Moon, the same half, or the “near
side,” is stuck facing us. This wasn’t always the case, as millions of years ago,
the Moon had a faster rotation until Earth’s gravitational influence caught up to it and
slowed it down. With all of that said, let’s clear up one thing - there technically isn’t
a “dark side” of the moon. Despite the fact that we don’t see it from our position,
the Moon’s “far side” still receives plenty of light. In fact, the surface tends
to be a lighter color, possibly due to the Earth-side’s history of ancient magma flooding
leaving behind more dark spots. 2. Lunar Seas
Speaking of those dark spots we can see from Earth, what exactly are they? Known as lunar
maria, the spots, which cover about 17% of the Moon’s surface, are basaltic plains
formed by volcanic eruptions in the days of yore. The name stems from the Latin word for
“sea,” or mare, and comes from astronomers once thinking they were actual bodies of water.
The confirmation of composition came from lunar rock and soil samples retrieved by the
Apollo 11 mission and, based on the findings, the maria were dated to about 3.9 billion
years ago. During this period, the surface suffered constant and heavy salvo from asteroid-sized
objects, causing craters that would be sustained for billions of years before being flooded
with magma during volcanic events. 1. Colonizing the Moon
You’ve just learned all this new information about our neighboring satellite but the question
still remains: when are we going to be calling it home? Believe it or not, despite much focus
being placed on colonization of Mars or some Earth-like planet, the Moon isn’t completely
off NASA’s radar. In fact, during the 2010 Global Lunar Conference in Beijing, preliminary
plans for a future lunar base were revealed and, according to Bernard Foing, executive
director of International Lunar Exploration Working Group, the desired completion period
is by 2050. Fast forward 6 years and you have claims from Alexandra Hall, the senior director
of Google’s Lunar XPrize, a competition aimed at developing low-cost, robotic space
exploration, touting a period of 5 to 7 years. Joining the United States in the race to claim
the Moon are Japan and Russia, who are both aiming for a 2030 completion for a lunar base.