Friday, March 21, 2008

Some Interesting Stuff about the Moon

A Moon Candy Box

I was reading a piece about the creation and destiny of the moon, and became aware of two interesting things I hadn't previously known. No, not it's exact diameter or the distance from the earth down to the last centimetre! Aren't there so many facts out there that you don't wanna or need to know! Like just so much National Geographic wallpaper.


Interesting Fact Number One. The origin of the moon was from the accretion of the material thrown into space when Thea, one of the larger numbers of planets that circled our sun four billion years ago, collided with the earth.

Still from the early French film 'Le Voyage dans la lune' (Georges Melies, 1902)







Interesting Fact Number Two. Some of the craters on the moon were formed when debris from this collision was finally drawn to the moon by it's gravitational field. So the early geological history of the earth has been preserved there in a pristine undegraded state.

Features of the Moon Giving Rise to the 'Man in the Moon' Stuff: Eyes (Lava Flows of Mare Imbrium and Mare Serenitatis), Nose (Flow of Sinus Aestuum) and Mouth (Flows of Mare Nubium and Mare Cognitum)

Interesting Fact Number Thrre. The moon is increasingly moving away from the earth - at the rate of half an inch a year, a fact determined by scientists from beaming radio waves off a panel left on its surface during one of the moon landings.


So the moon's POQ-ing! And going to leave us in a romantic vacuum!

14 comments:

  1. Hey Nick, as long as the Moon's not going out of orbit as per too much exposure to "Space:1999" and Nick Tate's hairy chest when under the age of 6 once led me to believe... I can deal with its rate of 'parting' and its 'POQing'. Particularly the latter.

    Yes, I outted myself as a fan of hairy chested aussie blond guys from the future that is now in the past. Big surprise, right? LOL Truth be told, hairy, blond or aussie does it for me. I don't need a combination of the 3 in my dotage, but it still ..erm..affects me ;)

    Hugs,

    Peter

    P.S. Fantastic pictures of our Luna, btw - had I forgot to mention that? Shame on me, then

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  2. Nick, guess who?

    Oui, c'est moi, the annoying P again. Just forgot to tell you I loved the pic from the Meliès short in particular. I am a huge admirer of his whimsical, fantasy, SFX work and have the (only one I could find, it's by Eureka, are there any others availavle over there that don't come under the title of "Early French Pioneers of Film - volumes I & II"?) VHS to prove it. And that one session at the Film Museum/Cinemateca. heh

    Feeling siily now, so..

    silly hugs,

    Peter

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  3. Hi Nick!!
    Very nice the 1st Moonface!!

    I know the Moon is going farer and farer; as a consequence, the lunar month will take more and more time: now it lasts 29 and 1/2 days: it will be longer. And the day on Earth too will be longer and longer: now it's 24 h, but in the future (far future!!) it will last 1lunar month! So the Moon will be visible only from 1half of Earth surface!!

    kisses!!

    gj

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  4. LOL! BTW who is nick tate - excuse my ignorance! like the bushy chest as well, and as well as one that merges with a trail! not surprised by your love of the bushy barrel - curiously i like dark chest hair on a blonde guy! and buff is good too. hugs. nick

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  5. hey fabio - just looked at your blog - really fun and quirky! will be back to it! take care. nick

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  6. hey peter again. you are never for a moment annoying. i've seen bits of the Meliès (ps - needs an acute on the first 'e' as well as the grave on the second - can't find where to do them, :<) on TV but not lucky enough to have a CD copy - but have one from YouTube, as well as his 'Le Diable Noir'(1905) and 'L'homme orchestre' (1900). a fab degree of fantasy imagination!

    i'll add my YouTube clip to the post - can't think why i didn't do this before!

    hugs squared

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  7. PS peter - melies also produced 'The Eclipse: Courtship of the Sun and the Moon' (1907) - a very camp sex-capade! hug

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  8. Ya know, I'm almost wanting to cry out "myth!!!" like that idea about we never going to space.

    Seems incredible to believe that some small planet collided with earth a long time back and then the earth and this new moon reformed.

    Also heard about the moon gradually leaving us and the scientists think that this will cause major problems ..... in the far off future of course!

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  9. wanna cry out the same thing greg but then i think being born and dying (and me being here for four score and ten out of billions of years, and that the sun will burn out) - these are so incomprehensibly weird that anything else is just simple stuff. what do you reckon? take care my friend. nick

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  10. For an interesting alternative (and quite plausible) theory presented in a totally fictitous format, check out "Inherit the Stars," book one of James P. Hogan's "Giants" Trilogy. Fascinating reading.

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  11. hey alexander. these 'new' theories are now also being articulated by a number of mainstram astro-physicists - so i guess becoming more conventional thinking.

    thanks very much for the pointer to Hogan's book - really appreciated - will check it out! always after a good read!

    take care - nick

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  12. hey rick, it was the program that was interesting. but thanks for the comment. take care.

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