The moon has many phases, yet only one “face.” It’s weird how you can look into the moon and see a face staring back at you, but some people claim to see a rabbit in the moon instead. It’s a natural, beautiful, wonder of the world and you can’t help but be interested in it. There’s probably not a lot you may know about the moon, but it is a complex feature with many facts. Below are some moon facts you may not know.
1. The moon’s total surface is 9.4 billion acres. On Earth, that would be tons of football fields and farms.
2. You can only see approximately 60% of the surface of the moon from Earth, and no matter where you are, you will only see the exact same side over and over. The “backside” of the moon will remain hidden away from you.
3. The moon is not a planet in the solar system. It’s actually considered to be a satellite.
4. There is a name for each month’s moon. Sounds kind of weird that there should be different names when the moon is simply the moon, but names have been given as follows:
* January’s moon is called the wolf moon.
* February’s moon has been given the name of the snow moon.
* March’s moon is known as the worm moon.
* April’s moon is the pink moon.
* May’s moon is given the name of the flower moon.
* The June moon is referred to as the strawberry moon.
* For July, the name is the buck moon.
* August’s moon is called the Sturgeon moon.
* The September moon is the harvest moon.
* October’s moon has been referred to as the hunter’s moon.
* The November moon is dubbed the beaver moon.
* And the moon for December is called the cold moon.
There are reasons behind the names given to each moon, and for more information, please visit http://www.moonconnection.com/ The explanations pertaining to each one is really awesome and you may decide to look further into them.
5. There are 8 moon phases beginning with the new moon, waxing crescent moon, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning, third quarter, and crescent waning,. The cycle will repeat itself all over again with the new moon.
6. If you were to travel from here to the moon, it would be approximately an unbelievable 240,000 miles! You would run out of fuel several times before ever reaching the moon, and with no fueling stations along the way, getting gas or hitching a ride would be impossible.
7. The moon goes around the Earth at a whopping speed of around 2,300 miles per hour. You would most definitely get numerous speeding tickets on Earth if you were to travel that fast, and most likely, you would loose your license too!
8. The moon is estimated to be over 4 million years old. Could you imagine the human population if all people lived to be the same age as the moon? There would not be enough homes, food, or resources to sustain everyone.
9. There’s no magnetic field on the moon. If you were to get lost on its surface, you could not use a compass to find your way around. It’s kind of like saying that there’s no direction there.
10. Under treaty, no wars or weapons of destruction are allowed on the moon. It is for peaceable use only.
11. It would take you 130 days or longer to get to the moon if you were to drive there. Well, if you were really able to drive there.
12. The moon doesn’t have its own light. It acts as a mirror that reflects the sun’s bright light. If there were no sunlight, you would never see the moon.
13. The tides of the ocean react to the moon. The tide comes in at night, then goes out during the day when the sun is most prominent.
Lots of people find beauty and mystery in the moon, and looking into all of the amazing moon facts available, there’s the hope that maybe someday, humans will know enough about the moon to live there. Over time, scientific research has learned more and more about the moon, and yet, to keep some information about it a mystery could be a nice idea, too.
Sources of information:
www.nationalgeographic.com
www.wikipedia.com
www.nasa.com
