Welcome to our new post! In this article, I will introduce you to some curiosities about our Moon. Get ready to learn amazing things about this splendid satellite and surprise your friends with these interesting facts.

Our Moon takes about 27 days to complete one orbit around the Earth. The Moon is 81 times smaller than the Earth. Did you know that the Moon is smaller than Pluto? Perhaps now with this information you are wondering: but if it is smaller than Pluto, how is it possible that it covers the sun during the solar eclipse? And the answer is that this is only possible thanks to the fact that the Moon is much closer to the Earth than the Sun, this proximity makes them look the same size from our planet during this event.

It is assumed that the Moon was formed from the collision between some celestial body with approximately the size of Mercury and the Earth, being formed by the destruction of this collision that was grouped.

Mythology

There are several gods that represent the Moon in different mythologies, some of the best known are: Hecate and Artemis in Greek mythology, Diana in Roman mythology and Isis in Egyptian mythology.

The Moon is not only beautiful to look at, but also has an important role in the stability of our planet, for example regulating the day and night cycle that without the Moon could be longer and more unstable.

The Apollo 11 spacecraft was the first spacecraft to reach the Moon, in which its crew members have been able to step on it. The journey from Earth to the Moon lasted about 4 days and during the mission they have been able to carry out various experiments and bring back some satellites.

Thanks to the light atmosphere of this natural satellite, there is almost no wind, and no sound propagation either. Its gravity is 1.62 m/s², that is, if a person weighing 45 kg went to the Moon, they would weigh 12.23 kg. The Moon's gravity also has an influence on our planet's tides. The temperature on the Moon can vary from -248 in the dark part to 123 degrees Celsius in the part illuminated by the Sun.

The thin atmosphere does not allow to stop or destroy the meteorites, nor does it have weather, winds or erosion that can erase the impact marks and reshape the satellite's surface. Therefore, the Moon has many craters and NASA stated that it has been possible to observe the presence of frozen water in the craters.

The Moon is brighter than Venus and dimmer than the Sun. This natural satellite does not emit light on its own, it only reflects light from the Sun.

The phases of the Moon are determined according to its position in relation to the Earth and the Sun. When we cannot see it, it is called a New Moon and it is between the Sun and the Earth. But if it is closer to the Sun, why can't it be seen? Because only the surface that is facing the sun is illuminated, the part that we can see from Earth is in darkness.

The full Moon is at the opposite end of the new Moon and bears this name because the surface facing the Earth is completely illuminated, it is when we can see it best. Following this logic, the waxing precedes the full moon and the waning the new moon.

Galileo Galilei already discovered in the year 1610 the existence of other moons in our solar system, more specifically he managed to observe the various moons that orbit Jupiter. Our Moon is the fifth largest in our solar system and is located at a distance of approximately 384,400 kilometers from Earth. However, this distance can vary because the Moon's orbit around Earth is an oval. When the full Moon is in the closest portion to Earth, we can appreciate the supermoon, a Moon 14% larger and up to 30% more luminous.

You may have heard of the Blood Moon by now, but have you ever wondered why the Moon appears reddish? This happens when the Moon does not receive light from the Sun because the Earth is between the Moon and the Sun. However, the Moon can still receive some light reflected from the edges of our atmosphere that filters the blue color and reflects the red.

You may have also heard the term blue Moon and no, the Moon does not turn blue. This is how it is named when there are two full moons in the same month. This event happens approximately every two and a half years.

There is also the Harvest Moon, a full Moon that occurs at the beginning of autumn. It is called like this, because when electricity did not yet exist, field workers needed moonlight to be able to extend their workday.

Depending on the acceleration of its orbit, the Moon moves 3.8 cm away from the Earth per year. Do you know how it is possible to determine this? Astronauts who explored the Moon left 5 reflectors on its surface. Scientists shoot laser beams from Earth in the direction of these reflectors and measure the data by how fast they bounce back. A curious fact is that this method has a precision of 1 millimeter.

The first person to have managed to step on the Moon was Neil Armstrong in 1969. Astronaut Stuart Roosa, a crew member of Apollo 14 in 1971, took various seeds to the Moon. After the end of the expedition, these seeds were planted on Earth. The journey did not disturb the seeds and the trees grew strong.

The Moon's surface is covered in a sticky, abrasive dust that makes it difficult for equipment to handle. One peculiarity about this powder is that it levitates. It is thought that the particularities of the compounds that form this dust in association with radiation or plasma from the sun is what allows it to float. Inside "microcavities" reactions of reabsorption and emission of electrons take place, this reaction formed by different particles could produce intense repulsion forces and electrical charges that would be responsible for this phenomenon.

There are two crashed NASA probes located at the North Pole of the Moon. NASA decided to intentionally crash them because they have run out of fuel to further investigate.

The surface of the Moon facing the Earth is always the same, this is because the Earth's gravity slowed the Moon's rotation to such an extent that it takes the same time to rotate on itself and to circle the Earth. Other Moons also have their rotation altered by the planet they orbit.

The outermost portion of the crust has fractures due to impacts received by the Moon. It is estimated that the core of the Moon is very small and occupies about 1 to 2% of the mass.

The composition of the Moon is rocky and is composed mainly of: oxygen (43%), silicon (20%), magnesium (19%) and iron (10%).

The shape of the Moon is not a perfect sphere, it is rather egg-shaped and is the narrowest part that faces the Earth.

There was a myth that the full moon phase had such an influence on the human being that it awoke madness, however, various studies have found no relationship between the increase in emergency reports with psychological patients during this period.