Have you ever looked at the moon on a clear night - the big yellow ball, shining brightly in the sky, throwing it's silver light all over the night sky? As a child, I was always fascinated with the moon. It's beauty and grandeur filled my heart with joy incomparable! Once I was big enough, here's what I learnt about the moon.
The moon was always used as a reference in almost all the literature of the world as something that was unattainable. It has been epitomized as an object of utter beauty, silence and romance. For poets, the moon was always the unyielding lover who would never come down to embrace her partner on earth. Well, well! If that’s a minute part of the story, read on to know more about other interesting facts of this beautiful celestial object!
The Moon was formed by a collision with our planet about 4.5 billion years ago. It was so large that a huge spray of material was thrown into space. The orbiting ring of debris gathered itself into a sphere and formed the Moon. This sphere is 1/4th the diameter of the Earth and comprises of only 17% of the gravitational power of the earth! Nevertheless, it is the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun.
The Moon's surface is about the same now as it was 3 billion years ago which is a major contrast to the earth. And it is the only extraterrestrial body to have been visited by humans.
The Moon was first visited by the Soviet spacecraft Luna 2 in 1959. So far, only 12 people have stepped onto the surface of the Moon. The first person to walk on the Moon ever, was Neil Armstrong. And the last person on the Moon was Eugene A. Cernan who followed his partner Harrison H. Schmitt into the lunar lander on December 11, 1972.
The Moon may look like a huge ball of cheese! Unfortunately, it’s not made of cheese, though we see numerous holes, small and big on the surface of the moon. The surface of the moon is scarred with millions of these holes called ‘craters’. These are formed when collisions between an asteroid, comet or meteorite and the Moon occur. These hit the Moon with a wide range of speed, averaging about 12 miles per second (20 kilometers per second).
Now this object of beauty may be under threat for some obvious reasons like global warming being the main cause. I would like to take a moment to say that we as humans have caused much damage to nature on the whole which in turn is taking its toll on various things, of which the moon could be on the hit list, apart from the extinction of animals, melting of the ice caps, etc.
The most obvious changes to the moon noticed across the globe is, its color. In some parts of the world it turns red, in some, orange and in some blue! According to research, this is caused due to the high concentration of dust and smoke particles in the air caused by us humans with our ever growing needs. So, here’s a gentle reminder for all the generations to come, to help the moon survive. So that our future may see the moon and not be disappointed!!
As Emmanuel G. Mesthene puts it rightly, “Ten years ago the Moon was an inspiration to poets and an opportunity for lovers. Ten years from now it will be just another airport”.
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