Moon is the only natural satellite of earth that is truly amazing and beautiful. Man set foot on this amazing satellite way back in 1969. There are some really interesting things about the satellite that is truly fascinating.
The Lunar Months
There are 4 different kinds of lunar months. Anomalistic is the length of the time taken for the satellite to circle round the earth. This is 27 days, 13 hours, 18 minutes, 37.4 seconds. Nodical is the time taken for the satellite to pass through one of the nodes and to return to it. This is 27 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes, 35.9 seconds. Sidereal is the time it takes to circle around the earth using stars as the reference point. Synodical is the length of time it takes to circle the earth with the sun as the reference point.
We Can See More Than Half Of The Moon
We can see around 59% of the satellite from the earth. The remaining 41% can never be seen. One who can see this 41% will never be able to see the earth.
Several Moon Needed To Match The Sun
We know that the brightness of the sun and moon can never be matched. But if we were to compare the two then you will need thousands of moons to match the brightness of the sun. The Sun’s brightness is 14 magnitudes more as compared to the satellite’s brightness.
The Earth Also Goes Through Phases
When one sees the earth from the surface of the satellite they will realize that the earth will also go through phases. There will be a full earth and no earth phase. But the phases will be reversed.
Eclipses Will Also Be Reversed
Not just the phases of the earth but even the eclipses will be reversed from the satellite’s surface. An eclipse of the satellite from the earth will be the eclipse of the sun from the surface of the satellite.
The Rules Of Naming Lunar Craters
The lunar craters have been formed due to the collision of the comets and asteroids with the surface of the satellite. These have been named after scholars, scientists, explorers, artists, etc. These days there are two groups. The lunar craters are named after deceased scientists, scholars, explorers, and artists. The craters around Apollo crater and the Mare Moscoviense are named after the deceased astronauts and cosmonauts.
Time Zone Of The Satellite
Special watches have been designed in the past that measure the time in lunations. This is the time that the satellite takes to rotate and revolve around the earth. One lunation is 29.530589 earth days. Franklin even developed a system that is known as the lunar mean solar time or the lunar time.
The fact that no one can ever disagree is that it is definitely one of the most beautiful things that earth has. Man has set his foot on this satellite but there are many things that are still mysterious about this amazing thing.
