While 150 moons presently loiter around at various corners of our solar system, most of them beg for little or no attention. Jupiter, the largest planet in our system, has trapped over 60 of these moons in her gravitational shell. Moons orbit the giant planet in a variety of paths that weave a somewhat nonsensical basket in the space surrounding. And while these moons might impose a great deal of influence on one another as they swish about, they little affect the great planet acting as their benefactor. The largest moon orbiting Jupiter is Lo and is the most volcanically active body in our solar system. The gravitational forces exerted by Jupiter are such that 300 foot “tides” are pulled on the solid surface of Lo. Another moon, Europa, is covered with watery oceans and is thought to provide great potential for simple forms of life. And, no, I am not making reference to Jersey Shores again in the last sentence I wrote. Some of the moons held in orbit around Jupiter are “provisional” in status, which means we have not fully interpreted their orbits and their importance in the scheme of things.
And so, Jupiter spins away, seemingly oblivious of her flock of stony and gaseous moons.
Our Moon, contrarily, is accountable for a host of mostly fortuitous Earthly behaviors. The gravitational dance into which we have engaged with our Moon is the very reason we have 4 stable seasons. The Moon, as if a mother with open hands against the cheeks of a child’s face and holding the child’s head back, holds our planet tilted back on its axis, allowing us spring, summer, fall, and winter. These same gravitational forces pull our ocean tides. In some places the Moon will wrench back the oceans as much as 50 feet.
Moonlight brightens our nights. What decent love song is complete without the Moon? By interesting coincidence, our Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun and, at the same time, the sun is 400 times more distant than the Moon, which makes them appear the same size as we observe them from our lawnchairs and verandas here on Earth.
The Moon is a mere 234,000 miles distant, which easily puts it within the driving range of an automobile. Something less than 6 months of steady driving would get you there, unless you routed through Los Angeles, in which case you might need to allow for heavy traffic. Sadly, there is not much to do on the Moon at this point. The few folks, who have visited the Moon to this date, have done little more than collect a few rocks.
The rocks were not all that pretty, either.
The Moon is entirely without an atmosphere which creates wild temperature fluctuations that can range from 270 degrees F where sunlight feeds energy into objects down to -240 degrees below in the darkness. Without an atmosphere, any hope of populating the moon will rest upon colonies encapsulated in protective chambers. Recent discoveries of water in deep craters and at the Moon’s north pole suggest that some basics for life may be provided. Maybe someday, the Moon.
Someday, yes.
Because the Moon is phase locked with the Earth, we see only one face of the sphere. We never see the back side of the Moon, which make ironic the statement that someone pulling down their britches and wagging their backside is mooning you.
But there she is: our Moon. Pretty as ever. Pure silver on a wintery night. Everywhere we look at night, we see the pewter reflection of the Moon melting into the surface of anything willing to hold it. But as certainly as dreams fade when we come awake, the Moon gradually draws away from us, receding at a rate of about 1½ inch per year, even as we try to hold her.
Ever leaving us, our Moon.
Our most uncommon Love.
--Mitchell Hegman
Great factual observation.
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