Earth's Moon
The Moon is the object in the night sky that humanity knows best. Earth’s constant companion.
Check out today’s LunarPhase.info
Journal Details
Subjects: SCIENCE, ASTRONOMY, MATHEMATICS, BIOLOGY, ANALYSIS AND PROBABILTY
Table of Contents
- Orbital attributes
- Internal structures
- Atmomsphere
- Topography
- Effects on the Ocean tides
- Science
- The Lunar Effect on Biological entities
- References
- Backlog Research links
Orbital Attributes
Tidal locking
Why do we always view the same face of the Moon?
Tidal locking (also called gravitational locking, captured rotation and spin-orbit locking). The tidally locked body takes just as long to rotate around its own axis as it does to revolve around its partner.
Libration
In lunar astronomy, libration is the wagging or wavering of the Moon perceived by Earth-bound observers and is caused by changes in their perspective.
3 Types of of lunar libration:
- in Longitude reaching amplitude up to 7°54′
- in Latitude
Lunar Phases
These eight phases are, in order, new Moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full Moon, waning gibbous, third quarter and waning crescent. The cycle repeats once a month (every 29.5 days)
New
Waxing Crescent
First Quarter
Waxing Gibbous
Full Moon
Waning Gibbous
Last Quarter
Waning Crescent
Perigee Syzygy
Supermoon is not an official astronomical term. The more accurate and scientific term is perigee syzygy (pronouced: PEAR-i-gee SIZ-eh-gee) Syzygy is the alignment of three celestial bodies, in this case the Sun, Moon, and Earth.
Internal structures
Core
Atmosphere
Topography
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topography_of_the_Moon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_lunar_features
Maria and Oceanus
‘Sea and Ocean’
Lacus
‘Lakes’
Sinus and Paludes
Craters
Catenae
Valleys
Mountains
- Selenean Summit refers to the ‘highest’ point on the Moon. At some 10,786 m (35,387 ft) above the lunar mean, it is nearly twenty percent ‘taller’ than Earth’s relative highest point, Everest. The summit is located along the north-eastern rim of Engel’gardt crater.
Mountain ranges
Albedo
Dorsa
Promontoria
Rimae
Rupes
Terrae
Effects on Ocean tide
Together, the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun affect the Earth’s tides on a monthly basis. When the sun, moon, and Earth are in alignment (at the time of the new or full moon), the solar tide has an additive effect on the lunar tide, creating extra-high high tides, and very low, low tides — both commonly called spring tides. One week later, when the sun and moon are at right angles to each other, the solar tide partially cancels out the lunar tide and produces moderate tides known as neap tides. During each lunar month, two sets of spring and two sets of neap tides occur (Sumich, J.L., 1996).
Just as the angles of the sun, moon and Earth affect tidal heights over the course of a lunar month, so do their distances to one another. Because the moon follows an elliptical path around the Earth, the distance between them varies by about 31,000 miles over the course of a month. Once a month, when the moon is closest to the Earth (at perigee), tide-generating forces are higher than usual, producing above-average ranges in the tides. About two weeks later, when the moon is farthest from the Earth (at apogee), the lunar tide-raising force is smaller, and the tidal ranges are less than average. A similar situation occurs between the Earth and the sun. When the Earth is closest to the sun (perihelion), which occurs about January 2 of each calendar year, the tidal ranges are enhanced. When the Earth is furthest from the sun (aphelion), around July 2, the tidal ranges are reduced (Sumich, J.L., 1996; Thurman, H.V., 1994).
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_tides/tides04_angle.html
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/education/tutorial_tides/tides02_cause.html
Tidal force
Tidal acceleration
Tidal range
Science
Renaissance astronomers and Theory
Cassini’s laws
- The Moon has a 1:1 spin-orbit resonance. This means that the rotation-orbit of the Moon is such that the same side of it always faces the Earth.
- The Moon’s rotational axis maintains a constant angle of inclination form the eclipitc plane. The Moon’s rotatoinal axis precesses so as to trace out a cone that intersects the eclipitc plane as a circle.
- A plane formed from a normal to the ecliptic plane and a normal to the Moon’s orbital plane will contain the Moon’s rotational axis.
1900 to Present
The Danjon scale
Proposed by Andre-Louis Danjon in 1921, the Danjon scale is a five-point scale useful for measuring the appearance and luminosity of the Moon during a total lunar eclipse.
Exploration
Who has walked on the moon
https://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/890/who-has-walked-on-the-moon/
Space Law
The Lunar Effect, on Biological entities
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_effect
Animals, Insects, & Nature
A full moon can provide a time cue for synchronized events, facilitate visual communication in the nighttime, or just scare normally night-active nocturnal animals into the shadows.
Corals synchronize spawing near full moon events to increase the odds that free-floating sprem will contact and fertilize eggs. Events in Australia are the largest generating visible undulating pink plumes.
Lions hunt best at night, but will sometimes kill during the day, especially after a full moon. Research has shown lions consume less food during the moonlit nights, possibly because prey are less active during these times. (Packer, C. 2011)
Scorpions glow an unnatural neon blue under the UV rays of the moonlight with a reaction to a protein in their exoskeletons.(Gaffin, D. 2012)
Lunisolar Calendar
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunisolar_calendar#:~:text=A%20lunisolar%20calendar%20is%20a,time%20of%20the%20solar%20year.
Lunar farming
https://www.moonmadefarms.com/lunar-farming
References
Packer, C., Swanson, A., Ikanda, D., & Kushnir, H. (2011) Fear of Darkness, the Full Moon and the Nocturnal Ecology of African Lions. Retrieved from https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/07/110720210651.htm
Gaffin, D., Bumm, L., Taylor, M., Popokina, N., & Mann, S.(2012)Scorpion fluorescense and reaction to light. Animal Behaviour. Volume 83, Issue 2. Pg 429-436. Retrievd from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0003347211005069
Backlog Research links
https://www.growlikegrandad.co.uk/allotment/sowing-growing-allotment/lunar-gardening-pay-attention-moon.html
http://www.primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk/moon/hemispheres.html
https://in-the-sky.org/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jet_Propulsion_Laboratory_Development_Ephemeris