The Earth’s Moon is my astronomy research topic because I find the Moon intriguing of how it was created and the theories some scientists made up by gathering some evidence. I don’t agree on many thing the scientists says on how the Moon is created, if it was up to me I would just say to leave the Moon alone because no matter how much you try to find out about the Moon existing, there is no way to prove it since we happen to be about over a billion years to late. I mean why is it that we much know exactly how the Moon was created in the first place, tell me how does that help us at all. There is another thing I don’t like about scientists and that is making up names for the planets around us, I mean we just see the planet and call it a name because we discover it I mean how would you feel if someone discover you in a woods and decide to called you by another name, pretty bad I hope. I mean is good for the teachers who are teaching Astronomy because then they’ll have more question for you to answer during the test about the galaxies. There are also some funny things about the landing on the Moon but I’ll get to that later. But allow me to continue on about the theory that we are using today of the Moon creation.
Our Moon has so many theory’s on how it was created but the scientists have came up with one theory and is sticking with it, which is bizarre because they claim that the Moon was created when a meteor about the size of Mars collided with Earth and then there was an explosion which made part of the planet to get separated, thus creating the Moon. I believe on the theory that the Moon was an asteroid going pass the Earth but was trap in the Earth’s magnetic field making it to revolve around us. This theory makes a lot more sense than the collision theory because if part of our planet really did came out and forms the Moon then how come our plant is a perfect orbital shape I mean shouldn’t the planet look like a cookie that was bitten. I mean shouldn’t you just think about that for a moment and ask yourself if the theory really make senses. From all the theories we have, we might never really know how our Moon was created or where it came from for now but until then we can and only could just keep making a very educated guess. So moving along do you know how old is the Moon?
The Moon is said to be about the same age as Earth which is about four billion years. We know this because of the craters on the Moon which can tell us how old it is. Also Galileo was the person who discovered the Moon and many other things later in his life. According to the textbook, Astronomy Today written by Chaisson McMillan the Moon has eight phases which of the first phase is called the Waxing Crescent, the second phase is called the First quarter, the third phase is called the Waxing Gibbous, the fourth phase is the Full Moon, the fifth phase is called the Waning Gibbous, the sixth phase is called the Third Quarter, the seventh phase is called the Waning Crescent, and the eight phase is the New Moon. This takes about 29.5 days to complete. You can look at the image below to see the phase if you want clearer image to imagine. It is also a mark of one of our greatest success like when Neil Armstrong went out in space in a rocket and made a successful landing on the moon and put the American flag on its surface. Here’s a fun fact about the flag on the moon which I think is hilarious when I first saw it because if you zoom up to 800 times on a telescope you read that the flag has a little writing saying “MADE IN CHINA.” The Moon also affects us on Earth such as creating tidal waves on our oceans and if we didn’t have it then there‘ll be no motion on the water it will be total chaos. Here’s another fun fact about the Moon and China, did you know that China celebrated a holiday for the Moon which is called the Mid-Autumn Festival during a full moon.
Here’s another impact the Moon has on us here on Earth and they are called eclipses. They are about four eclipses that happens each year two solar eclipse and two lunar eclipses. If your lucky enough to see a solar eclipse, it just might be the most amazing thing you will ever seen although you are required to wear really weird 3d glass, so it doesn’t damage your eyes. The lunar eclipse happen around night so we hardly notice it but a solar eclipse occurs on the morning making it easier to spot. Did you know that when an eclipse happens we are more able to see other stars in our galaxies? According to http://www.earthview.com/tutorial/effects.htm, “This marvelous view of the Sun clearly commands the center of attention during totality. But there are other sights to see as well. Because the direct light of the Sun is blocked, some of the brighter stars and planets become visible. Sometimes a total solar eclipse reveals a small comet on its path near the Sun.”
As we all know the Moon is our source of light at night because of the sunlight still hitting on the Moon while the Earth is still rotating. Did you know that we are exactly about 238,900 miles or 384,400 km away from the Moon. These are some very common fact we all know but did you know some one played golf on the Moon before. According to the website called http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_facts.phtml, “When Alan Sheppard was on the moon, he hit a golf ball and drove it 2,400 feet, nearly one half a mile.” We also called the Moon a satellite and not a planet because since it is the only thing that orbits around us and compare to size of the Moon it is quite small to the Earth like about ¼ to the size of the Earth. Also the Moon is about 1.28 light seconds that’s just another way to tell the distance of the Moon. Well according to the website called http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_facts.phtml,“ The Apollo missions brought back 2196 rock samples weighing 382 kg in total.” I never seen a sample of the Moon before even after I went to the Museum of National History but I guess it’ll look like one of those rock you see lying on the ground when you are walking by the street.
Did you know that there is someone who is living on the Moon, well I didn’t until I saw this website telling me about it. Well according to the website called http://www.moonconnection.com/moon_facts.phtml, “Dr. Eugene Shoemaker, a Geological Surveyor, who educated the Apollo mission astronauts about craters, never made it into space himself, but it had always been one of his dreams. He was rejected as an astronaut because of medical problems. After he died, his ashes were placed on board the Lunar Prospector spacecraft on January 6, 1999, which was crashed into a crater on the moon on July 31, 1999. The mission was to discover if there was water on the moon at the time, but it also served to fulfill Dr Shoemaker’s last wish.” Interesting isn’t it, on how we get what we want the most when we are dead. I’m sure everyone heard this phase before, that the Moon is made out of cheese, but did you know about thirteen percent people believe it to be true. People don’t stop trying to seize to amaze me, I mean first thing you look up to the Moon and say it’s made out of cheese, how is that even possible, the Moon is not even yellow and you claiming it to be made out of cheese.
From looking through websites and reading from the textbook I found many facts about the Moon but only some were interesting then the other load of information I received. The part about the flag on the Moon being made in China is still pretty funny to me whenever I see it. The Moon still holds me intrigue to it more than ever because I want to know what other weird assumptions the scientist will make from gathering some information they find along the way. There is still that one question that I have and it is why must we know about how things are created if we are never really sure that, that’s how it really was. Another question I have is what is on the dark side of the Moon, I know I didn’t talk much about it but still what’s on the other side I wonder. But for now this is it for my research about the Moon so I hope you enjoyed it.

 Worked Cited

http://www.astronomytoday.com/astronomy/earthmoon.html
http://nineplanets.org/luna.html
http://pictures.4ever.eu/fun/technology/china-138932
http://phys.org/news/2012-10-massive-planetary-collision-zapped-key.html
http://www.earthview.com/tutorial/effects.htm