Moon Question of the Day

How old is the Moon?

The Moon is approximately 4.6 billion years old.

Last 7 Days

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

What would happen if Earth's rotation started to slow down?

Earth is already slowing down and has been doing so for billions of years. At the present time, our planet is slowing down by about .002 second per century. The slowing occurs mainly because of friction between solid earth and ocean tides. Earth's loss of rotational energy is transferred to the Moon, which goes into a wider orbit, thus lengthening the time between successive full Moons.

Monday, February 6, 2012

I am interested in any folklore concerning marriage and the Moon.

The ancient Greeks believed that marriages consummated during the full Moon were the most prosperous and happiest, but a waning Moon boded ill for wedded bliss. The full Moon is also considered to be an ideal time to accept a marriage proposal. Folklore has it that if a young woman sees a dove and the new Moon at the same instant, she should say, "Bright Moon, clear Moon, / Bright and fair, / Lift up your right foot, / There'll be a hair." When she removes her shoe, she'll find a hair that is the same color as her future husband's.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

How old is the Moon?

The Moon is approximately 4.6 billion years old.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

How much space junk is out there?

Tons of space junk is orbiting the Earth and sitting on the surfaces of the Moon, Venus, and Mars. The Moon alone has 20 tons of it. These are man-made items that space explorers have left behind. Since 1957, when the Russians launched the first artificial satellite, we've left our junk in the skies and on other planets--sometimes on purpose, sometimes by accident. Among this debris is a glove somebody lost on the first space walk, from Gemini 4; a camera from Gemini 10; and miscellaneous pieces of rocket boosters and spacecraft. Some of these objects will eventually fall to Earth, others will burn up as they enter Earth's atmosphere, and still others will remain in space for many, many years.

Friday, February 3, 2012

Are there any ancient cultures known to have had a Copernican model of the solar system?

We can't find any record of a culture that believed the Sun was the center of the universe, but Copernicus wasn't the first person to say this. Around 270 B.C., on Samos (an island off the coast of what is now Turkey), Aristarchus put forth a theory of a sun-centered universe, which included his belief that the Moon's light came from the Sun. He is sometimes referred to as the Copernicus of antiquity.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Who were the Roman and Greek goddesses of the Moon and the sea?

Diana was the Roman goddess of the Moon. She was a "multipurpose" goddess, presiding over the hunt and childbirth, among other things. In her incarnation as Moon goddess, she was known as Luna. Artemis was the Greek goddess of the Moon. Gods, not goddesses, ruled the sea -- Neptune in Roman mythology and Poseidon in Greek.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Before gravity was understood, what did the ancients think caused tides?

Some people explained the motion of the planets by assuming that the planets were being pushed by angels. The same may have been true for tides. In other words, the explanation was found in supernatural forces. Since the Mediterranean Sea is very little affected by the tides, the ancient Greeks and Romans paid very little attention to it. Plutarch and Aristotle recognized the Moon as the cause of the tides, without understand gravitational pull. Pliny believed that the Moon had an attraction which caused the tides. Other scientists, like Ptolemy, settled just for a description without searching for a cause.