What causes spots on the moon to appear. Why are there dark spots on the white moon? Geological history of the Moon

The science

When the full moon comes, bright light The Moon captures our attention, but the Moon also holds other secrets that may surprise you.

1. There are four types of lunar months

Our months correspond approximately to the period of time that our natural satellite to complete the full phases.

From excavations, scientists discovered that people since the Paleolithic era have been counting days by associating them with the phases of the moon. But there are actually four different types of lunar months.

1. Anomalistic- the length of time it takes the Moon to orbit the earth, measured from one perigee (the point of the Moon's orbit closest to the Earth) to the other, which takes 27 days, 13 hours, 18 minutes, 37.4 seconds.

2. Nodal- the length of time it takes the Moon to travel from the point where the orbits intersect and return to it, which takes 27 days, 5 hours, 5 minutes, 35.9 seconds.

3. Sidereal- the length of time it takes the Moon to circle the earth, guided by the stars, which takes 27 days, 7 hours, 43 minutes, 11.5 seconds.

4. Synodic- the length of time it takes the Moon to go around the earth, guided by the Sun (this is the period of time between two successive conjunctions with the Sun - the transition from one new moon to another), which takes 29 days, 12 hours, 44 minutes, 2.7 seconds . The synodic month is used as a basis in many calendars and is used to divide the year.

2. From Earth we see a little more than half of the Moon

Most reference books mention that because the Moon rotates only once during each orbit around the Earth, we never see more than half of its entire surface. In truth, we get to see more during its elliptical orbit, namely 59 percent.

The Moon's rotation speed is the same, but its rotation frequency is not, allowing us to see only the edge of the disk from time to time. In other words, the two movements do not occur in perfect sync, even though they converge towards the end of the month. This effect is called libration by longitude.

Thus, the Moon wobbles in the east and west directions, allowing us to see a little farther in longitude at each edge. We will never see the remaining 41 percent from the Earth, and if someone were on the other side of the Moon, he would never see the Earth.

3. It takes hundreds of thousands of moons to match the brightness of the sun

The Full Moon has an apparent magnitude of -12.7, but the Sun is 14 times brighter, with an apparent magnitude of -26.7. The brightness ratio of the Sun and Moon is 398.110 to 1. It will take so many moons to match the brightness of the sun. But this is all a moot point, since there is no way to fit so many moons in the sky.
The sky is 360 degrees, including the half beyond the horizon that we can't see, so there are more than 41,200 square degrees in the sky. The moon is only half a degree across, giving an area of ​​0.2 square degrees. So you could fill the entire sky, including the half beneath our feet, with 206,264 full Moons and still have 191,836 left to match the brightness of the Sun.

4. The first and last quarter of the Moon are not half as bright as the Full Moon.

If the surface of the Moon were like a completely smooth billiard ball, then the brightness of its surface would be the same everywhere. In this case, it would be twice as bright.

But The moon has a very uneven terrain, especially near the border of light and shadow. The landscape of the Moon is pierced by countless shadows from mountains, boulders and even tiny particles moon dust. In addition, the surface of the Moon is covered with dark areas. Ultimately, in the first quarter, the Moon 11 times less bright than when full. The Moon is actually slightly brighter in the first quarter than in the last quarter because some parts of the moon reflect light better during this phase than in other phases.

5. 95 percent of the illuminated Moon is half as bright as the full Moon

Believe it or not, about 2.4 days before and after the full moon, the Moon shines half as brightly as the full Moon. Even though 95 percent of the Moon is illuminated at this time and will appear to be full to most normal observers, it is about 0.7 magnitudes less bright than at full, making it half as bright.

6. When viewed from the Moon, the Earth also goes through phases

However, these phases are opposite lunar phases that we see from Earth. When we see the new moon, we can see the full Earth from the Moon. When the Moon is in the first quarter, then the Earth is in the last quarter, and when the Moon is between the second quarter and the full moon, then the Earth is visible in the form of a crescent, and finally, the Earth in a new phase is visible when we see the full moon.

From any point on the Moon (except for the farthest side, where Earth cannot be seen), the Earth is in the same place in the sky.

From the Moon, the Earth appears four times larger than the full Moon When we observe it, and depending on the state of the atmosphere, it shines from 45 to 100 times brighter than the full Moon. When the full Earth is visible in the lunar sky, it illuminates the surrounding lunar landscape with a bluish-gray light.

7. Eclipses also change when viewed from the Moon.

Not only do the phases change places when viewed from the Moon, but also lunar eclipses are solar eclipses when viewed from the Moon. In this case, the earth's disk covers the Sun.

If it completely covers the Sun, a narrow strip of light surrounds the dark disk of the Earth, which is illuminated by the Sun. This ring has a reddish tint, as it is due to the combination of light from sunrises and sunsets that occur at this moment. This is why during a total lunar eclipse, the Moon takes on a reddish or copper hue.

When a total eclipse of the Sun occurs on Earth, an observer on the Moon may see for two or three hours a small, distinct dark spot move slowly across the Earth's surface. This dark shadow of the Moon that falls on Earth is called umbra. But unlike a lunar eclipse, where the Moon is completely engulfed by the Earth's shadow, the lunar shadow is several hundred kilometers smaller when it touches the Earth, appearing only as a dark spot.

8. Craters of the Moon are named according to certain rules

Lunar craters were formed by asteroids and comets that collided with the Moon. It is believed that only on the near side of the Moon approximately 300,000 craters, more than 1 km wide.

Craters named after scientists and explorers. For example, Copernicus Crater was named after Nicolaus Copernicus, a Polish astronomer who, in the 1500s, discovered that the planets move around the sun. Archimedes Crater named after a mathematician Archimedes, who made many mathematical discoveries in the 3rd century BC.

Tradition assign personal names to lunar formations started in 1645 Michael van Langren(Michael van Langren ) , a Brussels engineer who named the main features of the Moon after kings and great men on Earth. On his lunar map he named the largest lunar plain ( Oceanus Procellarum) in honor of its patron Spanish Philip IV.

But just six years later, Giovanni Batista Riccoli( Giovanni Battista Riccioli ) from Bologna created his own lunar map, removing the names he gave van Langren and instead assigned the names of mostly famous astronomers. His map became the basis of a system that survives to this day. In 1939, British Astronomical Association released a catalog of officially named lunar formations. " Who's Who on the Moon", indicating the names of all entities accepted International Astronomical Union(MAS).

To date MAS continues to decide what names to give to craters on the Moon, along with names for all astronomical objects. MAS organizes the naming of each specific celestial body around a specific theme.

The names of craters today can be divided into several groups. As a rule, the craters of the Moon were called in honor of deceased scientists, scientists and researchers, who have already become renowned for their contributions in their respective fields. So craters around the crater Apollo And Seas of Moscow on the Moon will be named after American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts.

9. The Moon has a huge temperature range

If you start searching the Internet for data on the temperature on the Moon, you will most likely get confused. According to the data NASA, temperatures at the Moon's equator range from very low (-173 degrees Celsius at night) to very high (127 degrees Celsius during the day). In some deep craters near the Moon's poles, the temperature is always around -240 degrees Celsius.

During a lunar eclipse, when the Moon moves toward Earth's shadow in just 90 minutes, surface temperatures can drop by 300 degrees Celsius.

10. The moon has its own time zones

It is quite possible to tell the time on the Moon. In fact, in 1970 the company Helbros Watches(Helbros Watches) asked Kenneth L. Franklin ( Kenneth L. Franklin ) , who for many years was chief astronomer at New York Hayden Planetarium create watches for astronauts who set foot on the moon. These clocks measured time in so-called " Lunations" is the time it takes for the Moon to orbit the Earth. Each Lunation corresponds to 29.530589 days on Earth.

For the Moon, Franklin developed a system called lunar time. He imagined local lunar time zones following standard time zones on Earth, but based on meridians that were 12 degrees wide. They will be called simply " 36 degrees Eastern Standard Time" etc., but it is possible that other more memorable names will be adapted, such as " Copernican time", or " time of Western calm".

The Moon, the Earth's satellite and the nearest celestial object (384,400 km) are visible in the night sky. Ancient cultures revered the moon. She has been represented as gods and goddesses in various mythologies - the ancient Greeks called the Moon "Artemis" and "Selene", and the Romans called her "Luna".

When the first astronomers looked at the Moon, they saw dark spots that they believed were maria ( Maria) and light areas, which they considered land ( terrae). In Aristotle's view, which was the generally accepted theory at the time, the Moon was a perfect sphere and the Earth was the center of the Universe. When Galileo Galilei looked at the Moon through a telescope, he saw a different picture of the Moon - a rugged terrain of mountains and craters. He saw how her appearance changed over the course of a month and how the mountains cast shadows, allowing him to calculate their heights. Galileo concluded that the Moon was similar to the Earth in that it had mountains, valleys and plains. His observations ultimately contributed to the rejection of Aristotle's idea of ​​a geocentric model of the universe.

Because the Moon is so close to the Earth relative to other celestial objects, people have explored its surface and made repeated landings. In the 1960s, the United States and the USSR were involved in a massive "space race" to land men on the moon. Both countries have sent unmanned probes into orbit around the Moon, photographed it, and landed on the surface.

On July 20, 1969, members of the Apollo 11 project, American astronaut Neil Armstrong, became the first person to set foot on the moon. During six lunar missions from 1969 to 1972, 12 American astronauts explored the lunar surface. They made observations, took photographs and brought back 382 kilograms of lunar soil samples.

The USSR took a different path, and on November 17, 1970, the world's first planetary rover was delivered to the surface of the Moon. "Lunokhod-1"(Vehicle 8EL No. 203), which conducted research for 11 lunar days (10.5 Earth months), controlled from the Earth. "Lunokhod-1" And "Lunokhod-2", launched in 1973, were the predecessors of the modern Curiosity rover, which successfully explored the surface of Mars.

What have we learned about the Moon from these historical journeys?

What's on the surface of the Moon?

As we have already noted, the first thing you will notice when you look at the surface of the Moon is the dark and light areas. The dark areas are called seas. There are several famous seas.

2. Mare Imbrium(Sea of ​​Rains): the largest sea (1100 kilometers in diameter), landing site of Lunokhod 1

6. Oceanus Procellarum(Ocean of Storms)

Seas cover only 15 percent of the Moon's surface.

The rest of the lunar surface consists of light mountains - heavily cratered regions. The Apollo 11 crew noted that mountains are typically 2.5 to 3 km above average surface elevation lunar relief, while the seas are low-lying plains, approximately 1.2 – 1.8 km below the average altitude. These results were confirmed in the 1990s, when the Clementine orbiter took high-quality images of the lunar surface.

The moon is full craters, which are formed when meteors hit its surface. They may have central peaks And terrace walls. The central peak is formed by an impact, like a splash on the surface of water, when a small object hits it. Lunar material from a meteor impact may also be ejected from the crater, forming rays emanating from it. Craters come in different sizes, and mountains are more densely cratered than seas. The lighter shade of the mountains is explained by the fact that as a result of the formation of craters on the surface of the Moon, fresh rock is ejected from its depths, which is exposed for less time solar radiation than the soil on the rest of the surface. There is another type of crater, the bottom of which looks like many concentric rings. This structure is created by a tremendous force of impact, which raises the surface of the Moon in waves.

In addition to craters, geologists noticed cones cinder volcanoes and old lava flows, which indicate that the moon was volcanically active at some point in its existence.

The moon has no true soil because it has nothing living. The lunar “soil” is called regolith. The astronauts noted that the regolith contained a fine powder of rock fragments and particles of volcanic glass mixed with large stones.

Having studied the rocks brought from the lunar surface, geologists discovered the following characteristics:

1. The seas consist mainly of basalt, an igneous rock formed from solidified lava.

2. Mountainous areas contain mainly igneous rocks anorthosite And breccia.

3. If we compare the relative age of rocks, then mountainous areas are much older than seas (4 - 4.3 billion years versus 3.1 - 3.8 billion years).

4. Moon rocks have very little water and volatile compounds in them and are similar to those found in the Earth's mantle.

5. Oxygen isotopes in lunar and terrestrial rocks are similar, indicating that the Moon and Earth formed at approximately the same distance from the Sun.

6. The Moon's density (3.3 g/cm3) is less than that of Earth (5.5 g/cm3), indicating that the Moon does not have a significant iron core within the planet.

The following data was also obtained:

1. Seismometers did not detect any “moonquakes” or other signs of tectonic plate movement (movements in the lunar crust)

2. Magnetometers of orbiting spacecraft and probes did not detect significant magnetic field around the Moon, which confirmed that the Moon does not have a significant iron core like the Earth.

Formation of the Moon

Before the Apollo and Lunokhod missions, there were three hypotheses about how the Moon was formed.

Co-education hypothesis: The Moon and Earth formed around the same time, close to each other.

Capture hypothesis: The Earth and Moon were formed in different parts Galaxies. Earth's gravity captured the fully formed Moon as it passed close to Earth's orbit.

Centrifugal separation hypothesis: The young Earth spun so quickly on its axis that a drop of molten material budded off and formed the Moon.

But based on the findings of the Apollo mission and some scientific reasoning, none of these hypotheses turned out to be very convincing.

If the Moon really formed together with the Earth, the composition of these two bodies should be approximately the same. However, this is not observed.

Earth's gravity is not enough to capture a space object the size of the Moon and keep it in its orbit.

The Earth cannot spin fast enough to lift off a blob of material the size of the Moon.

Scientists began to look for other explanations.

In the mid-1970s, scientists proposed new idea called Collision hypothesis. According to this hypothesis, about 4.45 billion years ago, when the Earth was still forming, a large object (the size of Mars) fell into the Earth under acute angle, almost tangentially. This small planet was named Theia. The impact threw material from the Earth's mantle and upper crust into space. The planet Theia, which struck the Earth, then melted and merged with the bowels of the Earth, and the hot earthly debris grew together in the shape of the Moon. It is assumed that Theia formed in Earth's orbit at one of the Lagrange points in the Earth-Sun system.

The impact hypothesis explains why moon rocks are similar in composition to the Earth's mantle, why the Moon does not have an iron core (because iron from the Earth's core, as well as Theia, remained in the Earth), and why there are no volatile compounds in moon rocks. Computer calculations have shown that this hypothesis is feasible.

There are two more hypotheses: evaporation hypothesis, according to which the substance evaporated from the hot to liquid state of the young Earth, which eventually formed the Moon and many moons hypothesis, which argues that several smaller moons orbited the Earth, which eventually formed one. But they are even less probable than the first three of these hypotheses.

Moon data:

Distance from Earth: 384,400 km

Diameter: 3,476 km, or about 27% of the Earth's diameter

Weight: 7.35 x 1022 kilograms, approximately 1.2% of Earth's mass

Gravity: 1.62 m/sec2, or 16.6% of Earth's gravity

Average surface temperature of the planet:

Sunlight = 130 C,

Shade = -180 C

Atmosphere: No

Orbital period: 29.5 days

Lunar day: 29.5 Earth days (The Moon is attached to the Earth in such a way that the Earth's gravitational forces pull the Moon around its axis and the same side of the Moon is always turned towards the Earth)

Geological history of the Moon

Based on analyzes of lunar rocks, specific gravities and surface characteristics, it was possible to deduce the geological history of the Moon:

1. After the impact (about 4.45 billion years ago), the newly formed Moon was a huge ocean of magma under a solid surface.

2. As the magma cooled, iron and magnesium silicates crystallized and sank to the bottom. Feldspar crystallized and formed anorthosite- lunar crust.

3. Later, about 4 billion years ago, magma rose and penetrated into the lunar crust, where it chemically formed basalt. The ocean of magma continued to cool, forming lithosphere(similar to material in the earth's mantle). When the moon cooled down asthenosphere(the layer next to the lithosphere) shrank and the lithosphere became very large. These events led to a model of the Moon that is internally very different from the Earth.

4. About 4.6 - 3.9 billion years ago, the Moon was subjected to intense bombardment by meteors, small comets and other large objects. These impacts modified the lunar crust and created large, densely cratered highlands on the lunar surface.

5. When the space bombardment stopped, lava flowed from inside the Moon through volcanoes and cracks in earth's crust. This lava filled the seas and cooled to become basalt. This period of lunar volcanism lasted approximately 3.7 billion years until 2.5 billion years ago. Because the moon's crust is slightly thinner on the side facing Earth, lava was able to more easily fill the sea basins. This explains why there are large quantity seas on the side of the Moon facing Earth compared to the far side of the Moon.

6. After the volcanic period ended, most of the Moon's internal heat disappeared, so there was no major geological activity. The consequences of meteor attacks were the main geological factors on the Moon. These effects were not as intense as in earlier periods of the Moon's history. Space bombardment is generally decreasing throughout the solar system. However, the meteor bombardment, which continues today, produced several large craters such as Tycho and Copernicus and the regolith (soil) that covers the lunar surface.

Every night the moon appears in in different forms in the night sky. On some days we can see its entire disk, sometimes part of it, and sometimes the Moon is not visible at all. These phases The moons are not random - they change throughout the month regularly and predictably and depend on the angle of incidence sunlight to its surface.

As the Moon moves in its 29.5-day orbit around the Earth, its position changes daily. Sometimes it appears between the Earth and the Sun, and then solar eclipses occur, and sometimes the Moon appears in the shadow of the Earth - then a lunar eclipse occurs.

Relative to the Earth-Sun plane, the lunar orbit is slightly inclined (by about 3 degrees). Sometimes, the precise alignment of the Sun, Moon and Earth produces a solar eclipse. This only occurs when the Moon is in a new phase and its orbit intersects the Sun-Earth plane between the Earth and the Sun. The Moon blocks the Sun and its shadow passes over the Earth.

In the same month as the solar eclipse, during the full moon, there will also be a lunar eclipse. During a lunar eclipse, the Moon passes through the Earth's shadow, causing it to dim. If the moon passes through part of the Earth's shadow, a partial lunar eclipse occurs. If the earth's shadow completely covers the moon's disk, a total lunar eclipse occurs.

Ebbs and flows

Every day on globe arise tides and low tides - changes in the seas and oceans. They are caused by the attraction of the Moon. There are two high tides and two low tides each day, each lasting about six hours.

The Moon's gravitational force attracts water in the oceans, forming tidal bulges in the ocean on the sides of the planet that are opposite the Moon. In combination with the forces of the Earth's rotation and the terrain features of the area, powerful tidal waves can arise at the mouths of rivers. This feature is used to generate electricity using tidal hydroelectric power plants.

The Moon also stabilizes the Earth's rotation. As the Earth rotates on its axis, it wobbles. The Moon's gravitational effect limits these fluctuations to a small extent. If we didn't have a Moon, the Earth could be tilted almost 90 degrees off its axis, like a top as it slows down.

Man's return to the moon

Since 1972, no man has set foot on the moon. However, all is not lost for potential sleepwalkers. In 1994, in lunar orbit, the Clementine probe detected radio reflections from shadowed craters at the South Pole of the Moon. Signals confirmed the presence of ice. Later, the Lunar Prospector orbiter detected signals of hydrogen from the same area, possibly hydrogen from ice.

Where did water come from on the Moon? It was likely carried to the Moon by comets, asteroids and meteors that have impacted the Moon over its long history. Water was not discovered by the Apollo missions because they did not explore this area of ​​the Moon. If indeed there is water on the Moon, it could be used to support a Moon base. Water can be separated by electrolysis into hydrogen and oxygen. Oxygen can be used to support life and both gases can be used for rocket fuel. The lunar base can be an intermediate link for the further exploration of the solar system (Mars and beyond). Plus, because the Moon has a lower gravity, it is cheaper and easier to lift rockets from the lunar surface than from the Earth's.

Some industrialized countries, including Japan and China, are planning trips to the Moon and exploring the possibility of building a lunar base using materials from the lunar surface. Various plans to send people to the Moon and set up possible bases on it will be carried out between 2015 and 2035.

The sizes of the seas range from 200 to 1100 km across. The seas are lowlands (for example, the Sea of ​​Rains is located 3 km below the surrounding area) with a flat bottom, with the presence of folds and peaks of small mountain peaks filled with hardened lava. The surface of the seas is covered with a dark substance - basalt-type lava, once erupted from the bowels of the Moon. At the bottom of the Grimaldi crater at the edge of the Ocean of Storms, ground-based research methods discovered ilmenites - rocks containing oxygen. There are few craters in the seas. The largest lowland is called the Ocean of Storms. Its length is 2000 km. The marginal zones of the seas, which resemble bays, as well as dark depressions in the form of lakes, were given names corresponding to their type. Around the seas there are ring-shaped mountain ranges. The Sea of ​​Rains is surrounded by the Alps, the Caucasus, the Apennines, the Carpathians, and the Jura. Sea of ​​Nectar - Altai and Pyrenees mountains. The Eastern Sea is surrounded by the Cordillera and the Roca Mountains. In the seas there are sometimes ledges - faults; The most famous ledge, the Straight Wall, is located in the Sea of ​​Clouds.

On back side There are few sea moons and they are small in size. There is an assumption that marine formations on the Moon were formed as a result of only a few collisions. The craters formed as a result of the impacts were filled with lava and gave birth to mascons. Lava rocks are heavier than continental rocks, which could cause an asymmetry in the distribution of lunar mass, as a result of which the Earth’s gravity forever fixed the “marine” hemisphere of the Moon in the direction of our planet. The far side of the Moon is characterized by “pools” - very large ring structures with a diameter of more than 300 km. The Eastern Sea, the Moscow Sea and others have two annular shafts - external and internal, with a diameter ratio of 2/1. Sometimes the inner rings are severely damaged.

Some facts about the lunar seas

Names of seas, bays, lakes and swamps on the visible side of the Moon

Russian name - Latin name

Names of the seas on the far side of the Moon

Russian name - Latin name

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2010.

See what “Moon Seas” are in other dictionaries: The name given to large, dark, nearly flat areas of the Moon's surface located below its average level. Lunar maria occupy 17% of the Moon's surface; they are covered with rocks similar to terrestrial basalts, whose age is 3-4.5 billion years ...

Big Encyclopedic Dictionary The name given to large, dark, almost flat areas of the Moon's surface located below its average level. Lunar maria occupy 17% of the Moon's surface; they are covered with rocks similar to terrestrial basalts, which are 3–4.5 billion years old. * * * LUNAR... ...

encyclopedic Dictionary Flat spaces on the surface of the Moon (See Moon), having the appearance of extended dark spots...

Great Soviet Encyclopedia Name large dark, almost flat areas of the Moon's surface located below its avg. level. Lunar surfaces occupy 17% of the lunar surface; they are covered with rocks similar to terrestrial basalts, some 3-4.5 billion years old...

Natural science. encyclopedic Dictionary

Black Sea Sea is a part of the World Ocean, separated by land or elevated underwater terrain. Some seas are part of another sea (for example, the Aegean Sea is part of the Mediterranean). The term is also used to name very large... ... Wikipedia

View of the Moon during a lunar eclipse Diagram of a lunar eclipse A lunar eclipse is an eclipse that occurs when the Moon enters the cone of the shadow cast by the Earth. The diameter of the Earth's shadow spot at a distance of 363,000 km (the minimum distance of the Moon from the Earth) ... ... Wikipedia lunar obelisks - 8 objects of regular conical shape, reminiscent of the famous Cleopatra’s Needle in the city. New York (USA), located on a flat area of ​​the lunar Sea of ​​Tranquility on an area of ​​165 x 225 meters. E. Moon obeliskes D. Mondobelisken … Explanatory ufological dictionary with equivalents in English and

If a person has the ability to reason, can contemplate the Sun, Moon and stars and enjoy the gifts of the earth and sea - he is not alone and not helpless.

/Epictetus/

Since the beginning of its history, people have closely observed the Moon. This only satellite of our planet still attracts curious glances to itself, having become important element beliefs of different peoples, their rituals, customs, signs. What the dark spots on the moon and where did they come from?

In ancient times, people believed that the landscape on the Moon is the same as on Earth, dark spots are seas, and light spots are land. However, with the development of science, it was proven that there is no atmosphere on our satellite, and therefore no liquid water on its surface. After a series of numerous studies and observations, scientists managed to compile detailed maps unique lunar landscape. The dark spots turned out to be huge craters that were formed as a result of collisions with celestial bodies and were flooded with liquid lava. They continue to be called seas, as in ancient times.

The large lunar crater with a diameter of about 80 km, photographed by the Apollo 11 crew, is located on the far side of the Moon and is not visible from Earth. The astronauts collected and delivered about 20 kg of lunar rock to Earth

Craters occupy up to 40% of the entire visible lunar surface. Our satellite is always turned to the Earth with the same side, on which most of the craters are located. Only quite recently, with the development of technology, man was able to look at the far side of the Moon. There, in addition to the usual relief, there is a huge depression 12 km deep and 2250 km wide, the largest in the entire solar system.

The closest celestial body to Earth

The moon is the closest one to us heavenly body. The distance to it is approximately 384,467 km. Appearance The moon changes in accordance with its phases, which repeat at strictly defined intervals. People paid attention to this back in ancient times, so one of the first calendars they began to use was Everyday life, was lunar.

Light particles from the Moon reach Earth in 1.25 seconds. But it is the light that travels the fastest in the Universe. And people, even on a space rocket, need to get to the Moon for a whole week. So our eternal companion is not that close. Suffice it to say that the length of the earth's equator is 10 times less than this distance.

The lunar radius is 1737 km. This is only 1.5 times less than that of Mercury, and 4 times less than that of the Earth. The mass of the Earth’s only satellite is 80 times less than the mass of our planet, so all bodies on its surface are attracted 6 times weaker. If the cosmonaut there, even in a spacesuit, had jumped, he would have flown several tens of meters. Its weight with all the equipment would be no more than 20 kg.

During the day, the surface of the Moon illuminated by the Sun heats up to 130 ºС, and the “lunar day” lasts almost half a month. At night, the surface temperature on our satellite decreases to minus 160-170 ºС. Thus, there is no need to talk about any life on the Moon.

Analysis of lunar soil samples showed that the surface of the Moon, like the surface of the Earth, was formed as a result of the solidification of basaltic melt. Therefore, the lunar seas are most likely frozen lakes of volcanic lava, and there has never been water in them.

The lunar maria are the largest features on the surface of the Earth's satellite. Solidified lava is characterized by a darker color than the rest of its surface. The seas are lowlands, the largest of which is called the Ocean of Storms. There are also bays, lakes and swamps. There are also seas and lakes on the far side of the Moon, but they are much smaller and smaller.

As mentioned above, the surface of the lunar seas and oceans is covered with dark matter. This is mostly dust that has settled over millions of years, but there are also outcrops of dense volcanic lava. It once erupted in large quantities from lunar volcanoes. Therefore, on the surface of the seas there are numerous hills and even low mountains.

Dark spots, that is, craters, are the most characteristic feature of the lunar surface. There are plenty of them on Earth too, only they are all “camouflaged” either by ocean waters or by vegetation. And the Moon carefully preserves these heavenly “autographs” - both ancient and relatively recent.

For many millennia, the Moon has amazed earthlings with its beauty and mystery. The greatest contribution to solving its mysteries was made by such great scientists as Galileo, Kepler, Newton, Euler and many others.

Once upon a time there lived a woman whose name was Viovio, and she had a son named Ganumi. When he was still an infant, his mother became pregnant again. This caused her milk to spoil and Ganumi stopped suckling. He lay there, hungry and dirty, his mother did not wash him and only sometimes gave him a little sago.

Shortly before giving birth, they curtained a corner of the house for her, and there she gave birth. She did not throw away the mat with blood stains, and one day, when everyone had gone to work in the gardens, she put Ganumi on it and also left. Ganumi immediately jumped to his feet and shouted:

- Oh, what is this red thing here?

And immediately Ganumi turned from a boy into a parrot. His body was covered with feathers, a beak appeared, and it all became red - like blood stains on a mat. The parrot flew up to the roof of the hut and then flew to where Viovio was making sago and landed on a nearby sago palm. The woman thought: “I have never seen such a bird, how beautiful it is!” And the bird screamed in the language of red parrots:

- Viovio, do you recognize me?

The woman threw some sago to the bird and said:

- Why is this bird calling my name? The parrot flew to another tree, dropped its feathers,

became a boy again and said:

-You didn’t recognize me? But you gave birth to me - you, and not another woman. Now I'll leave you. Trees will become my home, I will eat coconuts, and my name will now be the red cockatoo - Piro.

“Don’t say that,” said the mother, “go downstairs and come back home.”

- Now it’s late, I can’t go down, my house will be in the trees. When I was with you, you didn't care about me, but now I will eat bananas and coconuts and laugh at people.

The red parrot flew away and sat on a sago palm that grew above the stream. Soon the girls came for water, and one of them, whose name was Gebae, saw the reflection of the parrot and thought that the bird was there in the water. She jumped into the stream to catch it, but the bird was not there.

- Why did you go into the water? - another girl told her. “There’s a bird, up in the tree.”

The parrot flew to the girls, began to flutter over them, and they caught it. Gebae joked:

“I’ll take him home and hide him there, it will be our husband.” She put the parrot in a basket, and when she returned

home, hung the basket near the place where she slept. The girls lay down and fell asleep. In the middle of the night, Ganumi became human and woke up Gebae.

- Who is this? - she exclaimed.

- It's me, pyro. You caught me and put me in a basket.

Gebae said to herself: “I thought it was a parrot, but it turns out it’s a person!” The young man went to bed with her, and in the morning he returned to the basket. The next night he came to sleep with her again, and Gebae became pregnant. Soon other girls began to say: “Look at Gebae, her nipples have darkened - she’s probably pregnant.” Everyone found out about this, and some women began to scold her, while the rest remained silent. Her father and mother also learned that Gebae was having a child. They became very angry, gathered their fellow villagers and went with them to kill Ganumi.

The red cockatoo flew to the sago palm, threw off its feathers and put them in the hollow of the palm leaf. People cut down the palm tree on which he was hiding with axes, but Ganumi managed to jump to another, and when they began to cut it down, then to a third, and from that to a fourth. He saw his mother from above in the crowd and shouted:

- Viovio, where should I hide? They're about to kill me. Where is my ladder, mother?

The mother untied the rope that held her skirt and threw the end to Ganumi, but the rope was too short, and then she took out Ganumi’s umbilical cord, which she had saved. Ganumi shouted:

“They called me pyro, mother, but now they will call me different names!” They will always call me Ganumi when I shine brightly. Throw me the end of the umbilical cord, mother!

The mother tightly held the end of the rope with the umbilical cord tied in her hand and threw him another - she wanted to pull her son from the tree and hide him in her basket. Ganumi grabbed the end of the umbilical cord, and Viovio pulled it towards her with all her might. But Ganumi held tightly to the tree, and from Viovio’s jerk it first bent in her direction, and then straightened out again - with such force that it threw Ganumi’s mother into the sky, and after her Ganumi himself, holding on to the end of the umbilical cord. There Viovio caught him and put him in her basket, and in it she carries him in heaven to this day.

There is a white coating similar to flour on the leaves and trunks of sago palms. Ganumi, when jumping from palm tree to palm tree, smeared his face with it, and since then it has been white. When Ganumi peeks out slightly from her mother's basket, people see the new moon; then he sticks his face out more and more. Sometimes the mother hides the basket behind her back, and then the moon is not visible at all. The mother cannot be seen, only her fingers are sometimes visible in front of Ganumi’s face - these are the spots that we see on the moon.

There are other stories about why Ganumi’s face is white. It is said that one day, when he was still small, his mother was roasting sago, and he was crying and asking to be given some. Angry, she threw him a handful, the sago covered Ganumi’s face, and where the burnt stuff had fallen, there were now dark spots.

Ganumi threw off part of the sago that had stuck to his face, and it fell on the palm trees and even on the ground - crumbs of this sago can still be found, and if a young man eats such a crumb, all the girls will love him. For this purpose, the crumb is sometimes placed under the young man’s armpit, or they rub it on the shell that the young man wears around his neck, or they smear it on a long feather that adorns his head - it swings back and forth and lures girls. If they want to kill a fat dugong, they also sometimes smear a “crumb of the moon” onto the rope to which the harpoon is tied, and they also give one of the dogs if the hunter wants to drive down a fat wild pig.

Everyone knows how Ganumi appeared, and sometimes lovers, having met, repeat his conversation with Gebae. "Who are you?" - asks the girl. “I am Piro,” the young man replies, “I am Ganumi.”