Let's look at how the moon works.
The shape and composition of the moon
The Moon, unlike the Earth, is a more regular spherical shape.
- Its radius is approximately 1738 km, which is 0.272 of the earth's radius at the equator.
- The mass of the Moon is less than the mass of the Earth by 81 times.
- The attraction is 6 times less than the earth.
Because of this feature (too weak gravity), the Moon is not able to hold the atmosphere around it (the atmosphere will be captured by the Earth), so projects to create an artificial atmosphere around the Moon are doomed to failure in advance. On the Moon, it is only possible to create domes filled with breathing air.
The average distance from the Moon to the Earth is 384,400 km. The greatest distance is 405,500 km, the smallest is 363,300 km. The part of the moon that is invisible from Earth makes up 41 percent of the entire lunar surface. The temperature of the Moon at the subsolar point is +130 degrees Celsius. The temperature of the moon on the night side is -160 degrees Celsius.
What is the moon made of
The lunar soil, which was brought to Earth by lunar expeditions, consists, as analysis has shown, of a detrital-dust layer called righolite. This layer was formed on the rocky ledges of the lunar surface under the influence of meteorite impacts (the Moon is constantly bombarded by meteorites), heating and cooling processes, crushing, mixing and sintering.
And due to the fact that the lunar soil is affected by sunny wind, rigolite is saturated with neutral gases. In general, lunar rocks have a dual origin: some of them belong to the cosmos, others are of lunar ancestry.
The lunar soil itself often bears traces of melting as a result of meteorite falls or is represented by volcanic (lava) rocks like terrestrial basalt, and the other part of rigolite is meteorites. There are a lot of them on the moon.
There are also rocks that are similar to the earth. Some rocks are enriched in potassium, phosphorus and rare earth metals. According to scientists, volcanic rocks are characteristic of the lunar seas, and similar to the earth - for the lunar continents.
In general, the difference from terrestrial rocks is associated with the absence of water in the rocks, a reduced content of sodium and potassium, and an increased content of iron and titanium. In other words, the Moon is a paradise for the mining industry.
How is the moon
Lunar rocks are very ancient - their age is about 4 billion years, and the "youngest" (more than 3 billion years) were samples brought from the regions of the lunar seas.
The era of active volcanism on the Moon ended long ago.
Over time, the intensity of the meteorite bombardment of its surface also decreased. Due to this, over the past 2-3 billion years, the appearance of the lunar surface has not changed. (On Earth, under the influence of water and air, the ancient relief could not be preserved.)
However, moonquakes (reminiscent of weak earthquakes) still occur on the Moon, which are recorded by seismographs installed on the Moon by astronauts. The data from these devices made it possible to study internal structure Moon, highlighting the crust (about 60 km thick), the mantle (up to 1000 km) and the core with a radius of about 750 km.
Lunar relief
Dry Seas of the Moon. Earthly observers called them seas and oceans back in the era when it was believed that there were real seas with water on the Moon. This was facilitated by the fact that people simply could not imagine their neighbor in a different way, and the fact that, against the general background, the seas and oceans look like dark spots.
Only later it became clear that these seas and oceans are dry. And today we know that the color of the seas of the Moon, in contrast to the lunar "continents", is associated with a darker color of the rocks that compose them.
Sun rays unequally illuminate the lunar landscape, they reflect more strongly from high and light "continents" and weaker from deeper and darker seas, which is why we see them on the surface of our satellite as spots.
The lunar seas cover about 40 percent of the Earth-facing side of the planet. These lunar basins are practically devoid of cirques, but they have many deep cracks and low smoothed swells. Many lunar seas are surrounded by chains of lunar mountains.
Smaller depressions on the Moon are called lakes and bays.
The names that the seas of the Moon bear show well how the Moon seemed to people: the Sea of Rains, the Sea of Tranquility, the Sea of Crises, the Ocean of Storms ... The first names of the lunar seas were received back in the 17th century. They were given to the lunar lowlands by the Italian astronomer Giovanni Battista Riccioli in 1651.
Most large seas The moons are the Sea of Cold, the Sea of Rains, the Sea of Fertility, the Sea of Tranquility.
moon mountains
The mainland regions are represented by mountains and mountain ranges. It is very difficult to determine the height of the lunar mountains from the Earth, since the satellite is turned to us on one side and we always see a rather flat picture. In addition, to determine the height, you need to have at least some kind of reference point.
On Earth, we calculate the height of mountains relative to the level of the world's oceans. The moon is a dry planet. It has no water, and therefore no ocean level.
Therefore, the complex cartography of the Moon with the determination of the depth of the depressions and the height of the mountains is a task for future selenographers. Obviously, this work will require their presence on the planet itself. After all, pictures of the Moon, even from satellites, do not give accurate data on the height of the mountains. The first lunar mountains, discovered by astronomers, received the names of the terrestrial ones - the Caucasus, the Apennines, the Alps, the Carpathians ...
The mountain ranges were formed as a result of meteorite bombardment or volcanic activity on the Moon itself. They vary greatly in height - from a couple of hundred meters to several kilometers. For example, the famous Apennine mountain range has peaks up to 6 km high.
The Moon is also characterized by folded veins or mountain folds. They are not of meteorite origin, but were formed as a result of lowering and raising the lunar crust. Folded formations are observed only in areas adjacent to seas or mountain systems.
lunar craters
The surface of the moon is dotted with craters, or, as they are commonly called, lunar circuses. Basically, lunar circuses were formed as a result of meteorites falling on it or the collision of the Moon with other large cosmic bodies. But not all lunar circuses are the result of moon bombardment.
There is a whole group of craters that have a different, volcanic origin. The craters are not as deep as they appear from Earth. Basically, they have a depth of 10 m to 10 km, the latter being less common.
In general, scientists divide all circuses into five categories.
- The first includes large single craters,
- the other three types are distinguished by a lighter color of the adjacent areas and a later formation time,
- the fifth group of craters are circuses filled with lava (which is why they are often called flooded).
Flooded craters are characterized by the fact that they do not have a depression and look smooth, as if covered with a lid on top. All craters have a rounded shape and specific grooves on the slopes. As a rule, young craters are surrounded by bright "rays". Sometimes they block the already existing ancient circuses.
Some craters are collected in a chain. These cirques are clearly of volcanic origin, because even with active bombardment by meteorites, such long and distinct patterns could not have formed on the Moon. Crater chains stretch for more than 150 km.
Cracks, faults and domes on the Moon
In addition to the seas, mountains and circuses on the Moon, there are other interesting features of the relief. It is all dotted with cracks and furrows. It is believed that these furrows were formed as a result of the shift of lunar faults. Some appeared as a trace of the bombardment by meteorites, in a collision with large objects.
And part is of lunar volcanic origin. Furrows stretch for considerable distances, sometimes more than one hundred kilometers. The depth of the furrows is relatively small - from 500 m to 1 km, and, which is very characteristic, the width of the furrows does not change throughout.
An interesting feature of the lunar landscape is faults. These are formations in the form of straight sheer walls, which can take up to several hundred kilometers. The most famous is the Straight Wall in the Sea of Clouds. It is about 100 km long and up to 400 m deep.
Another interesting detail of lunar geography is domes. These are curved shields, which, according to scientists, were formed as a result of volcanic activity, that is, lava formations. Some of these domes have gaps that could have appeared when the lava subsided and voids formed inside the shields like our karst ones. Ufologists often place the secret factories of aliens in domes. There are few domes on the Moon, literally a few dozen.
The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth, the second brightest object in the earth's sky after the Sun, and the only astronomical object outside our planet that has been visited by man.
Songs are composed about the Moon, there are many secrets and mysteries around it, and some even consider the Moon to be a giant artificial satellite of the Earth, citing various arguments.
The moon with a diameter of 3474 km is the fifth largest natural satellite of the planet in the solar system. The largest is Jupiter's moon Ganymede with a diameter of 5262 km, followed by Titan - Saturn's satellite (5150 km).
Supermoon 2012 over the Grand Canyon.
The average distance between the centers of the Earth and the Moon is 384,467 km. In fact, this is a rounded value, because today, using laser ranging methods, the distance to the Moon is measured with an error of several centimeters! You can fly from the Earth to the Moon in just 3.5 days.
As a first approximation, we can assume that the Moon moves in an elliptical or circular orbit. However, the actual motion of the Moon is quite complex, and many factors must be taken into account when calculating it, for example, the oblateness of the Earth and the strong influence of the Sun, which attracts the Moon 2.2 times stronger than the Earth.
The moon is gradually moving away from the Earth due to tidal acceleration (about 4 cm per year), so its orbit is a slowly unwinding spiral.
Due to the virtual absence of an atmosphere, the sky on the Moon is always black with stars, even when the Sun is above the horizon. The Earth's disk hangs almost motionless in the sky of the Moon.
Thanks to big size and the composition of the Moon is sometimes referred to as planets terrestrial group along with Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars. Therefore, studying geological structure Moon, you can learn a lot about the structure and development of the Earth.
San Francisco, August 2012.
The lunar seas, which make up approximately 16% of the entire surface of the moon, are huge craters (from microscopic to hundreds of kilometers) resulting from collisions with celestial bodies that were later flooded with liquid lava.
Full moon in Scotland.
The moon illusion is an optical illusion that when the moon is low on the horizon, it appears much larger than when it is high in the sky.
Moon rise. National Park Joshua Tree, California.
The moon is like no other heavenly body. This is the only satellite whose period of rotation around its own axis completely coincides with the period of its revolution around our planet. That is why one side of the Moon is always visible from the Earth. What happens on the reverse side is never visible ...
Buenos Aires, Argentina.
How the moon affects the earth
March 10, 2011 south China at 11:58 an earthquake of almost 6 magnitude begins, it breaks the earth's crust 35 kilometers deep, causing tectonic plates to move.
The next day, March 11, 2011 in Japan at the bottom Pacific Ocean just 370 km from Tokyo, an earthquake begins, which has never happened before in the history of this country. Half an hour later, a 10-meter tsunami wave hits the northeast coast of Japan, sweeping away everything in its path. Almost 25,000 people became victims of this element:
In the next few months, a series of powerful earthquakes. Start shaking where you least expect it. The Philippines, Myanmar, Chile, Indonesia, Mexico, New Zealand, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Papua New Guinea and even Greece were shaken by tremors.
Natural disasters did not end there. In April 2011, an unprecedented drought began in Texas, the worst in the history of this state. She started the forest fires.
A month later, dozens of tornadoes swept through neighboring states. About 3,000 people died.
After that in South America and Argentina began the eruption of the long-extinct volcano Puyehue. Millions of tons of volcanic ash hit the country, in some places the thickness of the "snow" cover reached 1 meter.
Some scientists argue that 2011 was a record year for the number of disasters and natural anomalies. And, as it is not surprising, they all happened because of the Moon, more precisely, because of an amazing cosmic event - a supermoon.
It happened in March 2011, when the Moon approached our planet at a record close distance - 356 thousand kilometers. This is what caused numerous natural disasters and disasters. Can a supermoon really cause so many large-scale natural disasters? The scientific world has been arguing about this for many decades.
According to official science, the Moon has been hanging over the Earth for the past 4.5 billion years. On the other hand, as already mentioned, it is moving away from our planet by 4 cm per year, because of which, over billions of years, the Moon had to fly away at a very decent distance from us.
But violating the laws of astrophysics, the Moon does not fly away from the Earth to the expanses of the Universe and hangs in the orbit of our planet. Why? There is an opinion that once every 20 years, during which the Moon moves away from the Earth by 40 centimeters, a supermoon occurs, which somehow returns our satellite back.
And this is good, because our planet could not do without the Moon, because it takes on most of the cosmic impacts of all comets and asteroids. That is, the Moon is our shield, and rotating around the Earth covers our planet.
The Moon is the closest planet to us, which is why its gravitational field constantly attracts the Earth. The attraction of the Moon is so strong that the waters of the world's oceans seem to curve towards it, and then tides arise on Earth. When the Moon, moving in its orbit, approaches our planet, a tide arises, and when it moves away, an ebb tide occurs. Although for the globe the value of the gravitational force of the Sun is almost 200 times greater than the gravitational force of the Moon, the tidal forces generated by the Moon are almost twice those generated by the Sun.
Due to these ocean tides, a force of friction arises between the surface of the Earth and the waters of the world's oceans. This leads to the fact that the speed of the Earth's rotation around its axis is constantly slowing down, which means that the Earth's day becomes longer.
This deceleration of the Earth has been going on for 4.5 billion years, since oceans formed on our planet. 3 billion years ago, an Earth day was only 9 hours long. When prehistoric animals lived on Earth 530 million years ago, the day lasted for 21 hours. For dinosaurs that lived 100 million years ago, a day lasted 23 hours.
Thus, the Moon is the object that keeps our Earth from rotating erratically and slows down the Earth's course. Without the moon, the Earth would rotate at a very high speed, and our day would be only 6 hours long.
The day has now stretched to 24 hours. Could our planet come to a complete stop? In any case, this can only happen in a few billion years...
Artificial satellite theory
In the 1960s, Mikhail Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov of the USSR Academy of Sciences hypothesized that the Moon was in fact a giant artificial satellite of the Earth. This hypothesis has eight main postulates, called "riddles".
Supermoon 2012 in Portland.
First, the orbit of motion and the dimensions of the Moon are physically almost impossible. This is due to the fact that the magnitude of the Moon is equal to a quarter of the magnitude of the Earth, and the ratio of the magnitudes of the satellite and the planet is always many times smaller.
The diameter of the Moon has a surprisingly correct size, allowing it to completely cover the Sun, i.e. The Moon and the Sun have the same angular dimensions. This happens exactly 63 times every 100 years during solar eclipses. If the Moon had a slightly smaller diameter, it would cover half or a third of the solar disk. On the other hand, to solar eclipses occurred, the Moon must also be at the exact distance from the Earth. If she were, for example, a little further, she would never have been able to outshine the Sun at the right moment. And the most interesting thing is that there are no astronomical explanations for such a strange behavior of our satellite. Perhaps this is an incredible coincidence.
If the Moon were a body which at some point was attracted by the Earth and acquired a natural orbit, then this orbit would be expected to be elliptical. Instead, it is strikingly round.
The density of our satellite is 60% of the density of the Earth. This fact, together with various studies, proves that the Moon is a hollow object.
Were the Americans on the Moon
American astronauts spent almost 2 days on the Moon. During this time they took photographs, collected samples lunar soil and installed scientific instruments.
Lunar Module Pilot Edwin Buzz Aldrin installs equipment on the lunar surface. The lunar module is also visible on the back of the frame, July 20, 1969:
Just a year later, the famous American mathematician James Cryney published a revealing article in which he declared: there was no flight to the moon! As evidence, he cited footage of Neil Armstrong jumping on the surface of the moon. The mathematician argued that it was impossible to jump on the Moon in this way, because the force of gravity there is 6 times less than that of the earth, which means that the astronaut had to jump several times higher:
After another 6 years, the book of the American writer and professional photographer Bill Kaysing "We have never been to the moon" appears. He analyzed the video and photographs taken on the satellite and came to the conclusion that this is a skillful fake. As evidence, he cited a photograph where Neil Armstrong puts an American flag on the surface of the moon, and it flutters. But this could not be, because there can be no wind on the Moon, because there is a vacuum there.
It is possible that due to certain reasons, the Americans were really engaged in pavilion shooting. Some of the photos do indeed look more like fakes than real shots taken on the moon, but there could be a number of reasons for this. For example, some photos could simply be unsuccessful, because cameras at that time did not have viewfinders. Or on the Moon some kind of filming equipment failed. It is quite possible that some of the photographs had to be finished, and some were shot in the pavilions. But the very fact that they were there is beyond doubt.
Cosmonaut A. A. Leonov: “Only absolutely ignorant people can seriously believe that the Americans were not on the moon.”
On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the landing of a man on the Earth's satellite, the American space agency launched a space probe into the Moon's orbit. For the first time in history, he transmitted to Earth detailed images of all the space modules, the equipment left by the astronauts, and even traces from the protectors of all-terrain vehicles on which American astronauts traveled on the Moon.
Exactly a year later, Indian astrophysicists also launched an automatic probe to the Moon, and, like the American one, it was able to take detailed photographs of landers and other traces proving that there was a manned flight to the Moon!
This is also confirmed by data from Chinese and Japanese satellites. In addition, the Americans left laser reflectors on the Moon, with the help of which the distance to the Moon is measured with an error of several centimeters, as already mentioned. The presence of these reflectors on the surface of the moon also suggests that these were real American flights.
Full moon in Bangkok, December 2008.
Another thing is surprising: NASA employees did not refute the revelations and allegations that the Americans were not on the moon. They just kept silent. Moreover, several years ago, the personal files of NASA employees were accidentally declassified, among which were the cases of the aforementioned "whistleblowers" Bill Kaysing and James Cryney. It turns out that the exposure of the lunar mission was done under the leadership of NASA itself. What for? Perhaps the American astronauts saw something on the moon that needed to be hidden from the rest of the countries ...
The moon is fraught with many other secrets and mysteries. But more on that next time.
(Visited 1 times, 14 visits today)
How far are the nearest planets to us? Probably too far. Spacecraft reach Venus in four months, and Mars will take about two and a half years. But the satellite of our planet, the Moon, is only three days away. About the same time the train goes from Moscow to Abakan. The only difference is that we will go to Abakan by train or fly by plane, and we will have to fly to the Moon by rocket.
Origin
The Moon is the only celestial body that no one has ever doubted that it revolves around the Earth. Also in Ancient Greece scientists created a theory of the movement of the moon, and even learned how to predict solar and lunar eclipses. The lunar calendar appeared even earlier: the ancient Sumerians used it already around 2500 BC.
Where did the so well-known, familiar and long-time familiar Moon come from?
There have been many interesting hypotheses about this. It is believed that a long time ago, a small planet the size of Mars collided with the Earth. As a result of a terrible collision, a significant part of the Earth's substance was ejected into near-Earth orbit and subsequently formed the Moon.
Structure and surface
The moon can be divided into several layers (like all the planets of the solar system). In the very center is a solid iron core, covered with a molten shell of iron. Around the core is partially molten boundary layer, and then comes a thick layer of stone mantle.
The topmost layer of the moon is called the crust. At the time of the final formation of the planets of the solar system, the mantle of the moon was liquid, and especially large meteorites, breaking through the lunar crust, caused magma to flow to the surface.
Subsequently, these areas cooled and darkened. They correspond to the vast dark spots on the lunar surface. Previously, people thought that the dark areas on the moon were filled with water, so they called them seas. When it turned out that there is no atmosphere on the Moon (which means that liquid water cannot be there, since it will immediately freeze or evaporate), they did not change the names, especially since they are very beautiful and romantic: the Sea of Clarity, the Rainbow Bay, the Lake of Dreams , there is even a Sea of Plenty. On the Moon, bright craters with silvery rays diverging in different directions are also noticeable. They were also formed as a result of asteroids falling on the Moon, but much later, when the mantle solidified and did not flow out to the surface after the collision.
Research
For the first time the Soviet reached the moon spaceship"Luna-2" in 1959. Ten years later, American astronaut Neil Armstrong managed to land on the moon.
During the active exploration of the moon, dozens of scientific experiments were carried out, various soil samples were taken, many photographs and panoramas of the lunar relief were obtained. To date, we know much more about the Moon than about any other large cosmic body with the exception of the Earth. Currently in various countries projects are being developed to create both inhabited and uninhabited lunar bases. It is quite possible to implement these projects, but some difficulties associated with the lack of atmosphere will have to be overcome. For example, many small asteroids, when falling to the Earth, are heated by friction against the air and burn out before reaching the earth. On the Moon, even a small pebble the size of a fist, hitting a building, can lead to tragedy, easily breaking through almost any defense. Flares on the Sun will also cause a lot of trouble, during which the radiation background is greatly enhanced.
It is possible that the first lunar bases will be built in small caves, which are occasionally found on the surface of the moon. There it will be easier to hide from meteorites and protect yourself from radiation. In addition, it is easier to do from a construction point of view - instead of building the entire base, you only need to close up the entrance and let in air brought from Earth.
moon illusion
When we look at the Moon, which is near the horizon, it seems to us that it is much larger than the Moon that we observed in the sky. This is optical illusion. What is known about this illusion is that it is really an illusion: the moon does not change its size when traveling through the sky. There are several different theories to explain this effect. According to one of them, how big or small we see an object in the sky depends on the size of other objects that we observe next to it. Thus, when we observe the Moon close to the horizon, other objects fall into our field of view, against the background of which the Moon seems larger than it really is. This feature of our vision is illustrated by the following picture.
The orange circle on the left, surrounded by large blue circles, appears smaller than the orange circle on the right, surrounded by small blue circles. In reality, the orange circles are the same size. You can see for yourself by printing the picture and measuring the diameters of the circles with a ruler. However, this can be done by attaching a ruler to the monitor.
Interesting
Interestingly, the periods of revolution of the Moon around its own axis and around the Earth are the same. This leads to the fact that the Moon all the time "looks" at the Earth with one side. Because of this feature, we can only observe a little more than half of the lunar surface. Here's what it looks like.
The part of the moon that is not visible to an observer from Earth is called the far side of the moon. The far side of the moon was first photographed by the Soviet lunar station Luna-3 in 1959.
Konstantin Kudinov
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CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE MOON.
Target: Continue to acquaint children with space. To expand knowledge about the natural satellite of the Earth - the Moon. Fill up the children's vocabulary with new words on the topic. Cultivate curiosity, ingenuity, interest in space.
( material can be used in the classroom, during the morning, evening conversations).
The night comesShe ascends.Shines in the skyDarkness disperses.(Moon)
The moon is part of solar system. It is constantly moving around the earth. For this, the Moon was even called the satellite of the Earth. What do you think the word satellite means?
(A person who, together with someone, makes a journey.)
figurative meaning
(What accompanies something comes along with something.)
The Earth attracts the Moon to itself, does not allow it to move away. The Moon is much smaller than the Sun and smaller than the Earth. The surface of the moon is covered with the finest sand, lunar dust.
The thing is, folks, there's no air on the moon at all. We all know that wind is the movement of air. If there was a wind on the moon, then these footprints ... Let's see what would happen to them. How can you create wind? That's right, blow. (Children blow, traces disappear) . Now let's look at the next leaf. Due to the fact that there is no wind on the moon, the traces of the astronauts will remain on it forever.
And on the surface of the moon there are high mountains, much higher than on Earth (puts plasticine mountains) on the layout and deep pits (craters). There are no such deep depressions on Earth. Scientists have found that they were formed from the fall of meteorites on the surface of the planet. Let's try to see how this happens.
Experience:
The teacher distributes stones to the children and says that they are meteorites. He proposes to reproduce the process of falling meteorites by throwing stones into a container with “moon dust” (sand or flour ). Pits are formed from falling stones.
On the moon, not only is there no air, but no water either. Think about whether living beings live there? Why?
Since the Moon attracts to its surface weaker than the Earth, then you could freely raise such a table on the Moon(points to a table or something). On the moon, without any extra effort, just jumping up, you could touch this ceiling with your hand. Also, just pushing off, they could jump in length by 10-20 m(from one wall of the room to another).
Do we always see the moon as a full circle? And the sun? Have you thought about why this happens? The sun, like a light bulb, itself emits light, and the moon only reflects the light of the sun.
Sometimes we don't see the moon at all in the sky. This kind of her is callednew moon
In a few days we already see the moon like this(places an image of the next lunar phase on the flannelgraph). A few more days later, this(places the image of a quarter of the growing moon). If you spenddown the dash so that the letter P is obtained, which means that now the moon is growing.
In the morning I see from the window
The early moon is in the sky.
To distinguish it for us
Need a semicircle
We put a wand
Get the letter R there.
After a while we see the moon like this(inserts an image of the full moon) This kind of moon is calledfull moon . Then the moon will decrease and after a while it will take on this form(puts on a flannelgraph an image of a quarter of the waning moon) . Then the Lunar disk will decrease again and, finally, it will take this form (places the image of the next phase of the moon). Only a crescent resembling the letter C will remain of the Moon. They say that the Moon is waning, getting old.
Floated across the sky Lunar crescent,
The sickle leaned in for damage.
And so from heaven
We got the letter S.
(G. Sapgir)
Faithful companion, nights decoration,
Additional lighting.
Of course, we must confess:
It would be boring for the Earth without the Moon!
(R. Aldonina).
The Moon is the Earth's satellite. She shines brightly in the night sky. It can be observed even with the naked eye, and with small binoculars on the surface of the moon, you can see dark extended spots, which were called the seas.
Galileo was the first to discover mountains and plains on the Moon. He found out that the seas are plains of a darker shade than other areas, which they called the continents. There are many craters on the continents formed after the fall of meteorites.
Astronomers gave names to lunar ridges and mountain ranges. As on Earth, they called them the Apennines, the Caucasus, the Alps. The Ocean of Storms, the Sea of Crises, the Sea of Tranquility, the Sea of Rains appeared on the map of the Moon. The craters received the names of earthly scientists: Copernicus, Kepler, Tycho Brahe. Objects on the far side of the Moon, photographed by space probes, received the names of modern scientists and astronauts.
There is no water or air on the moon. During the day, the temperature reaches +120 degrees, at night - frost -170 degrees.
The moon shines because the sun illuminates it. From the Earth, we see it either round, or in the form of a sickle, sometimes it is not visible at all. We only see the part where the sun's rays fall.
How did the moon originate? There are three versions explaining the origin of our satellite. In the 19th century, astronomer George Darwin suggested that the Moon and Earth were at first one molten mass that was torn in two.
Other scientists have put forward a version that the Moon was originally an asteroid that was captured by the Earth's gravity and became its satellite. Domestic scientists headed by O.Yu. Schmidt in the middle of the 20th century developed the hypothesis that the Moon and the Earth were formed from a cloud of small particles.
RIDDLES.
Above the houses along the path.
Hanging piece of cake.
(Moon).
Above the grandmother's hut.
Hanging loaf of bread.
The dog is barking
And can't get it.
(Month).
In 1958, the first terrestrial apparatus, the Soviet Luna-1 probe, went to the Moon. He flew at a distance of 6 thousand kilometers from the surface of the moon. In September of the same year, Luna-2 made a hard landing on an earth satellite.
"Luna-17" and "Luna-21" delivered self-propelled vehicles to the Moon - lunar rovers, which were controlled from the Earth by radio. Lunokhod-1 worked 11 lunar days (10.5 Earth months) and walked about 10 kilometers on the surface of the Moon, Lunokhod-2 covered about 37 kilometers in 5 months. Lunokhods photographed the surface, took soil samples, studied its chemical composition.
Of course, self-propelled vehicles on the Moon are a significant achievement of science. But the man wanted more - to step on the surface of the Earth's satellite himself. In 1962, the Americans began preparations for a manned flight to the moon. American designers have developed the best flight path to the Moon, flying around it and returning to Earth. On December 24, 1968, the Apollo 8 spacecraft, commanded by Frank Borman, reached the orbit of the moon and made 10 orbits around it.
In July 1969, the Saturn 5 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, which launched Apollo 11 into Earth orbit. The ship's commander was Neil Armstrong. On July 19, Apollo 11 entered lunar orbit. Astronauts Armstrong and Aldrin boarded the Eagle Lunar Module and began their descent. At 21:00 CET, the astronauts landed on the Sea of Tranquility. Aldrin and Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the moon. It was the furthest human journey in space.
There on the moon, on the moon
On the blue boulder.
Lunar people look, do not take their eyes off,
Like over the moon, over the moon.
The ball is blue, the ball of the earth.
Very nice rise and fall!
(Yu. Mikhailov).
In total, 12 astronauts in six crews have visited the Moon. They brought to Earth to study more than 300 kilograms of lunar rock. In recent expeditions, astronauts traveled on the moon in four-wheeled electric vehicles. Apollo 17 became the last manned spacecraft to land on the moon
The moon is such a familiar yellowish-white ball, and sometimes a crescent, which can be observed in the sky on a cloudless night. And it's also huge stone ball, revolving tirelessly around our planet at breakneck speed, and it is he who creates ebbs and flows on the surface of the Earth.
- One of the theories of the formation of the Moon says that once the Earth collided with another planet, and from the debris of this planet a ring formed around the Earth, which then formed into the Moon.
- The moon always faces the Earth with the same side.
- The distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,000 kilometers.
- The mass of the Moon's crust is no more than 4 percent of the total mass. For comparison, the mass of the Earth's crust is up to a third of the entire mass of our planet.
- Bailey Crater is the largest crater on the Moon, with a diameter of almost 295 kilometers. It is located on the far side of the satellite and is not visible from Earth.
- The American Apollo 6 brought 385 kilograms of lunar soil with it to Earth.
- The volume of the Moon is about 49 times smaller than the volume of the Earth.
- From the surface of the Earth, the Moon and the Sun visually have the same size.
- Due to the absence of an atmosphere, night on the Moon comes instantly - there is no twilight.
- On the night side of the Moon, as well as in the shadow, the temperature is much lower than on the surface areas illuminated by the Sun.
- The oldest carved map of the lunar surface discovered was found in Ireland. She is about five thousand years old.
- The first probe sent to the Moon was the Soviet Luna-2.
- In 1969, American astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon for the first time.
- The force of gravity on the Moon is six times less than on Earth.
- From the side of the lunar surface facing the Earth, our planet is clearly visible at any time of the lunar day.
- On the moon there is a monument to the fallen astronauts. This is an aluminum figurine 10 centimeters high, depicting a man in a spacesuit.
- Fluctuations of the crust, moonquakes (similar to earthquakes) also happen on our satellite. They are believed to be caused gravitational interaction our planet and the moon itself, but this is still unknown for sure.
- The diameter of the moon is a quarter of that of the earth.
- Astronomer Eugene Shoemaker was unable to become an astronaut due to health problems, but despite this, he made a huge contribution to the study of the moon. After his death, NASA complied with his posthumous request and sent his ashes to the moon in 1998.
- Moon dust smells like burnt gunpowder.
- All moon shadows are completely black.
- The moon does not have a magnetic field, however, some rocks brought from the moon magnetic properties possess. This has not yet been explained.
- The Moon moves away from the Earth by four centimeters every year.
- There is a theory that claims that life on Earth was able to originate precisely due to the presence of a satellite that exerts its gravitational influence.
- The Moon is a large satellite, it is the fifth largest satellite in the solar system.
- 12 people have landed on the moon.
- On the Moon, there is an abundance of helium-3 substance, the extraction of which is economically feasible, since helium-3 is more than able to cover all the energy needs of the Earth.
- The moon is recognized as an international territory on which any military operations are prohibited. Also, the moon cannot be anyone's property.