Saturday, March 28, 2009

Earth's Magnificent Moon (17 Stunning Images)

"Into the sunset's turquoise marge The moon dips, like a pearly barge; Enchantment sails through magic seas, To fairland Hesperides, Over the hills and away." ~Madison Julius Cawein

Light reflecting off the moon, Earth's only natural satellite and the only extraterrestrial body man has stepped foot upon, travels 1.28 seconds before reaching our eyes and cameras here on Earth. It is about 4.6 billion years old, the same approximate age of the Earth. Most scientists agree that it was formed after a colossal collision between the Earth and a rouge planet at the beginning of Earth's formation. The molten debris shot into space after the collision and eventually clumped together forming a liquid ball that cooled into the sphere we see today. Through conservation of momentum, the interaction between the moon's gravity, the Earth's spin and the ocean's tides, the moon moves farther away from us every day while slowing the spin of the Earth and lengthening the day. Since the moon has no atmosphere or weather, the millions of impact craters are not eroded away, like on Earth, revealing to us a great deal of historical information. Some of these impact craters are so big, they can be seen with the naked eye on a clear night with a full moon. No cheese has been found on the moon.

Image Credit: Philipp Klinger

Image Credit: Andrei Lintu

Image Credit: pxipusher

Image Credit: joka2000

Image Credit: Romair

Photo Credit: Terence Molter

Image Credit: Surfingjoe

Image Credit: revlimit

Image Credit: stormygirl

Image Credit: Heartkins

Image Credit: Terry Lea

Image Credit: Ben

Image Credit: Ben

Image Credit: mattie shoes

Image Credit: Ben

Image Credit: R. Motti



See also: Ten German Birds

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