SECRETS OF THE MOON 2

“Allah is He, who created the sun, the moon, and the stars (all) governed by laws under His commandment.” (7:54)

The Moon has no atmosphere. This means that the surface of the Moon is unprotected from cosmic rays, meteorites and solar winds and has huge temperature variations. The lack of atmosphere means no sound can be heard on the Moon and the sky always appears black.

A person would weigh much less on the Moon. The Moon has much weaker gravity than Earth, due to its smaller mass, so you would weigh about one sixth (16.5%) of your weight on Earth. This is why the lunar astronauts could leap and bound so high in the air.

Can you plant something on the moon?
You could plant something, but it would die. There is no atmosphere (it needs carbon dioxide) and no water. The sunlight would burn it during the lunar day and in the nighttime it would freeze.  The soil cannot   provide the nutrients that it would need because it is just rock dust; there are no organic components that earth plants need to fix nitrogen!

Is there really water on the moon?
Water that would be found on the moon may have existed from the days when our solar system was formed. Comets that may have hit the moon could also be a source of water. However, the area where scientist found the possible signature of water is at the very cold south pole of the moon, in a dark, cratered area where the sun never shines. So it seems possible that the water (or ice) has survived there. But all these are not with certainty.

 How come we can sometimes see the moon during the day?
The moon is bright enough that we can see it during the day or night. It orbits Earth once every 29 days. So during some of that time, it is easiest to see during the day and sometimes during the night. Compared to stars one not see the stars during the day because the sky is too bright for its visibility. Sunlight scatters around in the air and makes the sky look bright blue. But if you had a telescope and pointed it at a bright star you could still see it during the day! The stars are still there, just hard to see.

The Moon has only been walked on by 12 people; all American males.

The first man to set foot on the Moon in 1969 was Neil Armstrong on the Apollo 11 mission, while the last man to walk on the Moon in 1972 was Gene Cernan on the Apollo 17 mission. Since then the Moon has only be visited by unmanned vehicles; as recent as early this year.

MOON SHADOWS: The shadows of the Moon were far darker than those on Earth due to the lack of atmosphere. Everything the Sun didn’t shine directly on was pitch black. The shadows of the Moon caused mischief on many Apollo missions. Some astronauts found their maintenance tasks impossible because their own hands blocked out what they were doing, while others thought they were landing on a steep slope because of the deep shadows that seemed like a cavern.

The dark side of the moon is a myth. In reality both sides of the Moon see the same amount of sunlight however only one face of the Moon is ever seen from Earth. This is because the Moon rotates around on its own axis in exactly the same time it takes to orbit the Earth, meaning the same side is always facing the Earth. The side facing away from Earth has only been seen by the human eye from spacecraft.

What is a lunar eclipse? What is a solar eclipse?
Anytime there are three bodies (the sun, the moon, or planet) lined up so that one blocks the light from another, we call that an eclipse. During a solar eclipse, our moon moves between us (on Earth) and the sun and blocks the sunlight. During a lunar eclipse, Earth blocks the sun’s light that normally lights up the moon. Since we are standing on Earth, what we see is that the moon gets dark. Other kinds of eclipses happen too. For instance if you were standing on the surface of Jupiter (kind of hard, but we can imagine) you might see one of its moons eclipse the sun!

Why does the moon affect the tides?
The moon actually CAUSES the tides. If there were no moon, we would have no tides. The tides arise due to the pull of the moon’s gravity. On the side of Earth nearest the moon, the moon’s gravity is the strongest and it pulls up the water slightly (high tide). On the side of Earth furthest from the moon, the moon’s gravity is the weakest and the water can move a little away from the moon (which is also high tide). This also affects Earth itself. During high tide Earth rises by an inch or two, not enough for us to notice.

“He created heavens and the earth in true proportions; He makes night overlap day and day overlap night and subjected the sun and the moon (to His Law); each one runs its course for a term appointed.” (39:5)