moon poster new AW - Armagh Planetarium Poster.pdf · The Moon is our closest astronomical...
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2009 SPACE ODYSSEY a guide to the MOON THE MOON - OUR CLOSEST NEIGHBOUR The Moon is our closest astronomical neighbour and the brightest object in the night sky. It has no light of its own, however, and instead reflects light from the Sun. It is therefore sunlight that enables us to see the enormous craters on the Moon. The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite. From, here it appears almost as big as the Sun. In fact, it is only a fiftieth of the size of the Earth. Nonetheless, it is the most studied object in space; and the only one, apart from our own planet, on which human beings have walked. The phases of the Moon have been used as the basis of calendars since prehistoric times. Its gravitational pull causes most of the Earth’s tidal activity. More that 70 spacecraft have been sent to the Moon: 12 men have walked on it and 382kg of rock and soil has been brought back to Earth. Almost 40 years after man last stood upon its surface, the Moon’s power to inspire and intrigue remains undimmed. OBSERVING THE MOON The Moon has no atmosphere, no seasons and no life. The lack of atmosphere means there is no weather and no wind. The view with your telescope is virtually as good as if you were visiting it in a spacecraft. Viewing with a magnification of 100, on a night when our own atmosphere is steady, you are getting the same view that the Apollo astronauts had when passing just 2,500 miles from it. Even with the naked eye, on a clear night an extraordinary amount of detail can be discerned. (Do not be fooled, however, by the impression that the Moon is larger when lower in the sky: This is a psychological illusion.) Some of the Moon’s most spectacular features are in the north-west quarter, much of which is covered by the vast Oceanus Procellarum and the separate dramatic basin of the Mare Imbium. The latter resulted from an enormous impact comparatively late in the Moon’s history. You can see through a telescope that the lava flows from the impact have flooded earlier craters. The prominent white spot just below it is the magnificent Copernicus crater. The Tycho crater is the Moon’s youngest large impact crater, and is more than 50 miles in diameter, with three-mile high walls. The “rays” that radiate out from it in all directions were once splashes of molten rock, thrown out by the impact that originally made the crater. In July 1969 Apollo 11 landed in the Mare Tranquillitatis, (Sea of Tranquility). Five other missions landed successfully. MOON GEOLOGY The lunar crust is about 60 miles thick in the highland regions, but considerably thinner under the mare basins. A small iron core at the Moon’s centre accounts for 4 per cent of its mass, but there is no overall magnetic field. It is geologically inert, apart from a few mild moonquakes (at depths of roughly 450 miles). Lunar soil, known as regolith, is a mixture of rock fragments churned up by meteorite impacts over billions of years. Because there is no wind on the Moon, the footprints made by the Apollo Astronauts will remain unchanged for many centuries. MOON ORIGINS The most widely accepted theory for the Moon’s origin, known as the “giant impactor” or “big splash” theory, is that a Mars sized body collided with the newly formed Earth, around 4.6 billion years ago, and debris from the impact produced molten rock from the Earth which combined with the other planet to form the Moon. Subsequent large impacts produced the Moon’s basins, and smaller impacts the craters. A very small number of lunar craters may be of volcanic origin. THE MOON’S VITAL STATISTICS Diameter: 2,160 miles. Average distance from Earth: 238,855 miles Equatorial circumference: 6,783 miles Gravity: 1/6th of that exerted by the Earth Age: about 4,527 million years Average surface temperature: -23 o C Period of orbit around Earth: about 27.3 days Lunation (period between Full Moons): 29.4 days. The Moon can appear larger when close to the horizon, but it’s just an illusion. Oceanus Procellarum Copernicus Crater Mare Tranquilitatis Apollo 11 Tycho Crater Mare Imbrium Apollo 16 Apollo 17 Apollo 15 Apollo 12 Apollo 14 MEN ON THE MOON Although Russia had successfully landed an unmanned spacecraft (Luna 9) on the Moon in 1966, the crew of Apollo 8 in December 1968, were the first humans to leave Earth orbit and circle the Moon. After two more “dress rehearsal” missions, in July 1969, Apollo 11’s Lunar module ‘Eagle’ landed on the Moon with just 45 seconds of fuel to spare. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon. Four months later, Apollo 12 made a successful landing, but Apollo 13 was forced to abort its mission after an explosion in the command module and used the Lunar lander as a ‘lifeboat’ to get home. Apollo 15 was the first mission to use a Moon Rover, enabling the astronauts to explore a much wider area than the previous missions. Astronaut Gene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon in December 1972 on the Apollo 17 mission. Apollo 18, 19, and 20 were cancelled to make funds available for the Space Shuttle programme. While the Americans continued their manned missions, in 1970 Russia landed The Lunokhod robotic lunar rover. Lunokhod's original mission was to survey sites for later manned landings. Instead it was used to explore the lunar surface, controlled by a six man team on earth. After many set backs, including several launch pad explosions, the Russians finally abandoned their manned Moon landing programme in 1974. moon poster new AW 11/6/09 13:37 Page 1
Transcript of moon poster new AW - Armagh Planetarium Poster.pdf · The Moon is our closest astronomical...
2009
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EYa guide to the MOON THE MOON - OUR CLOSEST NEIGHBOUR
The Moon is our closest astronomical neighbour and the brightest object in the night sky.It has no light of its own, however, and instead reflects light from the Sun. It is therefore sunlightthat enables us to see the enormous craters on the Moon. The Moon is the Earth’s only naturalsatellite. From, here it appears almost as big as the Sun. In fact, it is only a fiftieth of the size of theEarth. Nonetheless, it is the most studied object in space; and the only one, apart from our ownplanet, on which human beings have walked. The phases of the Moon have been used as the basisof calendars since prehistoric times. Its gravitational pull causes most of the Earth’s tidal activity.More that 70 spacecraft have been sent to the Moon: 12 men have walked on it and 382kg of rockand soil has been brought back to Earth. Almost 40 years after man last stood upon its surface,the Moon’s power to inspire and intrigue remains undimmed.
OBSERVING THE MOONThe Moon has no atmosphere, no seasons and no life.The lack of atmosphere means there is no weather andno wind. The view with your telescope is virtually as goodas if you were visiting it in a spacecraft. Viewing with amagnification of 100, on a night when our own atmosphereis steady, you are getting the same view that the Apolloastronauts had when passing just 2,500 miles from it.Even with the naked eye, on a clear night anextraordinary amount of detail can be discerned.(Do not be fooled, however, by the impression thatthe Moon is larger when lower in the sky:This is a psychological illusion.) Some of the Moon’smost spectacular features are in the north-westquarter, much of which is covered by thevast Oceanus Procellarum and the separatedramatic basin of the Mare Imbium.The latter resulted from anenormous impact comparatively latein the Moon’s history. You can seethrough a telescope that the lavaflows from the impact have floodedearlier craters. The prominentwhite spot just below it is themagnificent Copernicus crater.
The Tycho crater is the Moon’syoungest large impact crater, andis more than 50 miles in diameter,with three-mile high walls. The “rays”that radiate out from it in all directionswere once splashes of molten rock,thrown out by the impact that originallymade the crater. In July 1969 Apollo 11 landedin the Mare Tranquillitatis, (Sea of Tranquility).Five other missions landed successfully.
MOON GEOLOGYThe lunar crust is about 60 miles thick in thehighland regions, but considerably thinner underthe mare basins. A small iron core at the Moon’scentre accounts for 4 per cent of its mass, butthere is no overall magnetic field. It is geologicallyinert, apart from a few mild moonquakes(at depths of roughly 450 miles). Lunar soil, knownas regolith, is a mixture of rock fragments churnedup by meteorite impacts over billions of years.Because there is no wind on the Moon, thefootprints made by the Apollo Astronauts willremain unchanged for many centuries.
MOON ORIGINSThe most widely accepted theory for the Moon’sorigin, known as the “giant impactor” or “big splash”theory, is that a Mars sized body collided with thenewly formed Earth, around 4.6 billion years ago,and debris from the impact produced molten rockfrom the Earth which combined with the otherplanet to form the Moon. Subsequent large impactsproduced the Moon’s basins, and smaller impactsthe craters. A very small number of lunar cratersmay be of volcanic origin.
THE MOON’SVITAL STATISTICSDiameter: 2,160 miles.Average distance from Earth: 238,855 milesEquatorial circumference: 6,783 milesGravity: 1/6th of that exerted by the EarthAge: about 4,527 million yearsAverage surface temperature: -23oCPeriod of orbit around Earth: about 27.3 daysLunation (period between Full Moons): 29.4 days.
The Moon can appear larger when close to thehorizon, but it’s just an illusion.
OceanusProcellarum
CopernicusCrater
MareTranquilitatis
Apollo 11
TychoCrater
MareImbrium
Apollo 16
Apollo 17
Apollo 15
Apollo 12
Apollo 14
MEN ON THE MOONAlthough Russia had successfully landed an unmannedspacecraft (Luna 9) on the Moon in 1966, the crew ofApollo 8 in December 1968, were the first humans to leaveEarth orbit and circle the Moon. After two more “dressrehearsal” missions, in July 1969, Apollo 11’s Lunar module‘Eagle’ landed on the Moon with just 45 secondsof fuel to spare. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrinbecame the first men to walk on the Moon.
Four months later, Apollo 12 made a successful landing,but Apollo 13 was forced to abort its mission after anexplosion in the command module and used the Lunarlander as a ‘lifeboat’ to get home. Apollo 15 was the firstmission to use a Moon Rover, enabling the astronauts toexplore a much wider area than the previous missions.Astronaut Gene Cernan was the last man to walk on themoon in December 1972 on the Apollo 17 mission.Apollo 18, 19, and 20 were cancelled to make fundsavailable for the Space Shuttle programme.
While the Americans continued theirmanned missions, in 1970 Russia landedThe Lunokhod robotic lunar rover.Lunokhod's original mission was to surveysites for later manned landings. Instead itwas used to explore the lunar surface,controlled by a six man team on earth.After many set backs, including severallaunch pad explosions, the Russiansfinally abandoned their manned Moon landing programme in 1974.
moon poster new AW 11/6/09 13:37 Page 1
2009 SPACE ODYSSEY
Don't miss tomorrow's poster - The Planets
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THE MOON
2009 SPACE ODYSSEY
Don't miss tomorrow's poster - The Planets
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Today’s free poster
THE MOON
THE SPACE RACELike many advances in technology, the space programme has itsroots in conflict. The German rockets that targeted Britain duringWorld War 2 were created by Wernher von Braun, an SS officer andmember of the Nazi party. Von Braun was the central figure inGermany's pre-war rocket development program, responsible forthe design and realisation of the deadly V-2 combat rocket. Afterthe war, he and some of his rocket team were taken to the UnitedStates as part of the then secret Operation Overcast.In 1955, ten years after entering the country, von Braun becamea naturalised U.S. citizen.
Von Braun worked on the American intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) programbefore joining NASA, where he served as director of NASA's Marshall Space FlightCentre and the chief architect of the Saturn V launch vehicle, the superbooster thatpropelled the Apollo spacecraft to the Moon. He is generally regarded as the fatherof the United States space programme.
The space race began in 1957 when the Soviet Union launched the first artificialsatellite, Sputnik. Soviet Premier Khrushchev wanted to show that communisttechnology was superior. President Kennedy wanted to beat the Soviets to themoon. Speaking about the prospect of sending astronauts to the moon in 1961,Kennedy said, ‘No single space project in this period will be more impressive tomankind, or more important for the long-range exploration of space.And none will be so difficult or expensive to accomplish’.
THE SPACE RACE TIMELINE1957 The Soviet Union launches Sputnik, the first artificial Earthsatellite. ‘Sputnik’ is the Russian word for ‘Traveller’.
1958 The United States launches its first satellite, Explorer I.The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)is formed in the United States. NASA is the federal agencydevoted to exploring space.
1959: Soviet Union’s Luna1 probe passes near the Moon.In the same year, Luna 2 lands (violently) on the Moon andLuna 3 photographs its far side. All three are unmanned.
1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin becomes the first person to orbit the Earth.
1962 Alan Shepard, Jr. becomes the first Americanastronaut in space.
1962 John Glenn, Jr. becomes the first Americanastronaut to orbit the Earth.
1963 The first woman in space is Soviet cosmonautValentina Tereshkova.
1961: President Kennedy commits the US to ‘the goal,before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moonand returning him safe to the Earth’.
1966: Luna 9 (unmanned) achieves the first softlanding on the Moon; unmanned US probe,Surveyor 1, also lands four months later.
1967: Apollo 1 explodes during launch-pad test,killing three astronauts:Edward White, Gus Grissom, and Roger Chaffee.
1968: Apollo 8 is the first manned missionto orbit the Moon.
1969: In a “dress rehearsal” mission two astronauts from Apollo 10 descend towithin 15 kilometres of the lunar surface. Two months later, on 16 July, Apollo 11’sLunar Excursion Module lands on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrinbecome the first men to walk on the Moon; Michael Collins remains on the mainApollo craft. Four months later, Apollo 12 (astronauts Conrad, Bean, Gordon)has a successful landing.
1970: Apollo 13 aborts mission. Apollo 18, 19, and 20 missions, scheduled for1972-1973, are cancelled to make funds available for the Space Shuttle programme.Unmanned Soviet probe Luna 16 retrieves rock and dust from the Moon.
1971: Successful lunar landing missions by Apollo 14(astronauts Shepard, Mitchell, Roosa) and Apollo 15 (Scott, Irwin, Worden).
1972: Successful lunar landing missions by Apollo 16 (Young, Duke, Mattingly)and Apollo 17 (Cernan, Schmitt, Evans). The latter, in particular, yields largeamounts of geological data – but marks the end of the Apollo programme.
1974: Soviet Union abandons its manned Moon project.
THE PHASES OF THE MOON
As the Moon orbits the Earth, it is seen to go through a sequence of phases as theilluminated proportion of the visible hemisphere changes. One complete sequence,called a ‘lunation’, takes 29.4 days. At the crescent phase, the dark side of the Moonis seen to be faintly illuminated by ‘earthshine’ – sunlight reflected from the Earth.The Moon rotates on its axis as it orbits the Earth. Because both the rotation andorbit are similar, about once every 28 days, we only ever see one side of the Moonfacing the Earth. The hidden, dark side of the Moon can never be seen byastronomers on Earth without the use of orbiting space craft. But this does notmean it is literally dark. A more accurate description is that is the far sidebecause it is simply the side farthest away from the Earth.
ECLIPSESA total eclipse occurs when the Moon's orbit brings it between the Earth and theSun, and the Moon covers the Sun in its entirety. This causes areas of the Earthto darken during daylight beneath the Moon's shadow. In lunar eclipses theEarth is between the Sun and the Moon and the Earth's shadow falls on theMoon, making it appear red.
PHASESThe Moon presents different shapes - or phases - in the night sky: from a thinsilver crescent to a full bright circle. These phases are called new moon, firstquarter, full Moon and last quarter. A new moon is when the Moon's sunlitside is away from the Earth.
When the moon changes from new to full it is said to be waxing. When less andless can be seen, from full to new moon, it is waning. It is a crescent Moonwhen smaller than a half Moon and ‘gibbous’ when larger.
Apollo 1 crew
Alan ShepherdWernher von Braun
Yuri Gagarin
LUNAR TIDESTides are created because the Earth and the Moonare attracted to each other, just like magnets areattracted to each other. The Moon tries to pull atanything on the Earth to bring it closer. But, theEarth is able to hold onto everything except thewater. Since the water is always moving, the Earthcannot hold onto it, and the moon is able to pullat it. Each day, there are two high tides and two lowtides. The ocean is constantly moving from hightide to low tide, and then back to high tide.There is about 12 hours and 25 minutes betweenthe two high tides.
Tides are the periodic rise and falling of large bodies of water. Winds and currentsmove the surface water causing waves. The gravitational attraction of the Mooncauses the oceans to bulge out in the direction of the moon. Another bulge occurson the opposite side, since the Earth is also being pulled toward the Moon(and away from the water on the far side). Ocean levels fluctuate daily as the Sun,Moon and earth interact. As the Moon travels around the Earth and as theytravel together around the Sun, the combined gravitational forces cause theworld's oceans to rise and fall. Since the Earth is rotating while this ishappening, two tides occur each day.
TYPES OF TIDESWhen the Sun and Moon are aligned, there are exceptionally strong gravitationalforces, causing very high and very low tides which are called Spring tides, thoughthey have nothing to do with the season. When the Sun and Moon are not aligned,the gravitational forces cancel each other out, and the tides are not as dramaticallyhigh and low. These are called neap tides. Spring tides occur when the Moon is fullor new, and the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun are combined. Neap Tides occur during the Moon's quarter phases.
Content & Images supplied courtesy of:
Poster design by Jonathan Simms
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