Concept in Definition ABC

NASA scientists estimate that the Moon is about 447 billion years old and that it is at an approximate distance of 384,400 km from Earth. The Moon is a natural satellite that, highlighting the transformation since its formation, compared to the Earth, represents a quarter of the blue planet. Its approximate diameter is 17% compared to that of Earth, with a reference gravity of the same 17% above Earth's gravity and with an approximate radius of 1,738 km.

Quote (APA)

Julio Armando Eufraccio Morgado | July 2022
Lic. in Geography, Master in Geospatial Information Sciences

Starting from known processes on Earth, with specific reference to volcanism, we can generate hypothesis about the formation of the Moon, detailing that it comes from the separation of a great superplanet, from which three new stars that we know today as Venus, Earth and the Moon were generated. And in its beginning, our satellite experienced volcanic processes similar to those of the Earth, where it is specified that it had a liquid center that stored the most dense in its center, with a crust that was beginning to experience numerous volcanoes and a series of bombardments by meteorites of all kinds of dimensions, as the processes volcanic rocks were left behind behind a crust that cooled and became denser, the great lunar seas were shaped, coming from large flows of material incandescent.

In 2020, the Chinese Chang-5 space mission subtracted basaltic material (basalt-type rocks) from a hitherto unexplored area. moment of our satellite, shedding light that the Moon had its last volcanic activity, just 900 million years ago, in comparison with the results accepted by the scientific community of 2,700 million years.

What we know for certain after the immense amount of exploration is that it is an unfriendly place for reproduction of life as we know it on Earth, since the temperature The Moon's temperature can rise to 120° Celsius during the day and drop to -180° Celsius at night. Highlighting that these extreme temperature changes are caused by the lack of atmosphere experienced on the Moon.

Likewise, to get a better perspective of the fact that our satellite is indeed a natural satellite with large proportions, we can compare it with the gaseous planet Jupiter and its Ganymede satellite, which has a ratio of 0.008%, so it is not wrong to mention that the Moon is a large natural satellite compared to the rest of the natural satellites in our Solar system.

Observation and visit around the Moon

This great star of the night has always intrigued men and women since ancient times, emphasizing that the contemplation of its movements by ancient thinkers made we could verify and begin to understand the lunar cycle with an approximate duration of 29 days, having these observations a relationship with the first agricultural calendars of the humanity. According to the above, the observation of the sky and its movements was a recurring element among the inhabitants of ancient times, but with the passing of historical processes, the great discoveries and great scientific advances, humanity was able to access artifacts that became their glasses astronomical, for an exclusive observation of the sky and thus accessed better theoretical positions and understanding of its natural satellite.

From these observations, large craters could be distinguished, accompanied by extensions associated with flat parts that They supposedly enjoyed calm and are visible as large gray spots on the Moon, which were baptized by Galileo Galilei with the name of seas, so that people will be able to observe when approaching a map of the Moon, names like Sea of ​​Tranquility or Sea of ​​the Serenity. Part of the knowledge we have about the Moon is that it can be considered a star without an atmosphere, which undergoes large changes in temperature, which lacks a definitive detection of containing water, which ultimately makes it an almost uninhabitable place for the humans. But let's try to better understand our satellite, taking a little walk through it.

On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on our satellite, and were able to verify that there are three predominant types of relief on the Moon: the seas, the mountains and the craters or circuses. The seas can be described as large, almost flat or flat expanses, which have little elevation or very subtle unevenness and it is specified that they cover 40% of the total lunar surface. The mounts are great steep and high mountain ranges that resemble the great mountain ranges on Earth, highlighting including Mount Leibniz with an approximate elevation of 8,200 m, which can be compared to Everest, the highest peak land.

As part of the types of relief, we only need to explain the craters, which are very numerous, exceeding 300,000 cirques, standing out among them Clavius, with a diameter of 227 km. These explorations made it clear that the origin of the craters went from being considered volcanic forms or processes to being certain of the great constant attraction and impacts of the small celestial bodies that travel through our solar system, better known as meteorites, which they impact the Moon, but due to the lack of atmosphere they are received without any brake and according to their dimensions they excavate craters with lesser or greater depth.

moon cycle

As mentioned above, we have highlighted that the lunar cycle lasts approximately 29 days, but experts from NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) highlighted that it lasts 29.5 days, so we can say that the cycle that our night star completes is less than 30 days, so permanent. Where we will always observe the same face of the Moon, due to the synchronous rotation phenomenon executed in the existing gravitational interaction between the Earth and the Moon. Based on the above, it can be stated that our natural satellite rotates on itself and around the Earth, taking the same time to make both turns, that is why it always presents us with its same expensive.

Moon phases and tides on Earth

Another thing to thank Galileo Galilei for is the reference within the lunar cycle, where he highlighted the successive behavior of the Moon in reference to the visible variations that are the effect of synchronous rotation and named them as lunar phases, to express the above in a colloquial, would be the way we see from the Earth to the Moon with reference to its position with the Sun.

These are the main phases of our night star:

New Moon, as its name indicates, gives way to the beginning of the lunar cycle and is the part where our satellite is totally invisible, because the Moon is in the same position in the sky as the Sun, technically it is when our natural satellite rises and sets together with the king star, it can be known by the name of Moon invisible.

Crescent moon, can be seen as an illuminated splinter, which is shown that way because half of it is illuminated of our satellite, but with the characteristic that this luminous part looks towards the opposite side of the Land.

first quarter, where you can see a Moon that is with only a quarter of its circumference illuminated showing itself to Earth.

waning moon, the entire daytime side of our satellite begins to become visible, becoming more luminous.

Full moon or half moon illuminated, being the part where it will be possible to distinguish the illumination of the Sun on the entire day side of the Moon, being the midpoint of its cycle, only remains its return trip with similar processes.

A waning Moon phase will follow, where our satellite appears to be shrinking, but it's actually the way the Moon's orbit hides this side from our perspective.

last quarter, is a process where only a quarter of the Moon can be observed illuminated, also known as the third quarter of the Moon.

waning crescent, where the Moon is about to complete its cycle and can be seen as an illuminated curve where the illuminated side faces the Sun, and thus enter a new cycle.

This beautiful lunar cycle, which we can liken to a dance space between the Earth and the Moon, being contemplated by the Sun, has a notable interference in certain terrestrial phenomena, such as the tides. This is caused by the effect of gravitational attraction that the Earth experiences according to the Sun and the Moon, as Einstein explained in his time. In this case, the oceans and seas visibly experience these effects of the gravitational attraction exerted between celestial bodies, so there are continuous and discontinuous flows between the waters of the oceans and seas on Earth, which are named as high tide and tide short. These can be spectacular phenomena, like the one recorded in the Bay of Fundy in Canada.