Tell me about the moon.

[Raven]

It rises in the east and travels across the sky and sets in the west, doesn't it? Does it ever change that pattern?

[DrWeird]

1. IT'S WAY UP IN THE SKY!

AND WE LOVE MARMOTS!

[youngred]

30. BUT NOT AS MUCH AS A SPOOOOOOOOOOOOON

WHICH IS VERY USEFUL FOR EATING SOUP
METHINKS A FORK ISN'T VERY USEFUL FOR THAT
UNLESS IT HAS GOT MANY VEGGEABLES

[mr_hat]

2. When it hits you in the eye like something or other, that's... something.

[pmbryant]

3. Follows very similar path as the Sun

Sun, Moon, stars, planets, comets, etc all appear to rise in the east and set in the west due to the rotation of the Earth.

That pattern never changes.

There are complications on top of that of course. Hard to describe in words without a 3-d diagram, though.

--Peter

[Raven]

8. Thank God someone has taken me seriously here!

There is a sliver of a moon tonight and it's in the western sky. It is 8 pm here. Usually the moon doesn't get there until 3 or 4 in the morning. Should I check myself in someplace?

[pmbryant]

10. This is perfectly normal

The Moon revolves completely around the Earth once per month (actually approximately 29 days is more precise), so its position relative to Sun changes constantly over the course of each month.

So the Moon sets at different times each day as a result.

29 days from now (roughly), the Moon will be in the same place in the sky (relative to the Sun) as it is today.

--Peter

[Raven]

14. Thank you!

I thought we were being invaided! :-)

[pmbryant]

15. Glad I could help

If you ever see a full moon (rather than a sliver) low in the west soon after sunset, that would indicate we were being invaded.

:-)

--Peter

[Raven]

4. Ok, Ok, I'm serious!

Answer my question and quit giving me shit! :-)

[Kamika]

5. It's made of cheese

Pretty tasty too

[baldguy]

19. It's stinky cheese.

That's why the astronauts had to wear those moon suits.

[TheMightyFavog]

6. Classic line from Our Town

George, is the moon shining on Canada, South America, and half the whole world?

[mouse7]

7. You never know. There's always traffic issues.

If it's normal route is bumper-to-bumper, it might use I-95 to bypass the congestion.

[Shanty Oilish]

9. That's what it does

You can't always see it, though. If it ever changes appreciably, you won't have to ask. There'll be more threads than the boob, yak and Nader put together.

[Raven]

11. See #8 above.

:eyes:

[VelmaD]

12. Don't check yourself in...

I chase the moon most nights on my jog. It doesn't always seem to rise and set in the same place. I just figure it's one of those things. I could look up why but that might take away some of the mystery. :-)

[supernova]

13. Prehistoric women evidently kept up with their cycles

with the phases of the moon.

[reprehensor]

16. I really like da mooooon! n/t

[lojasmo]

17. Here ya go

the moon
some more
i love google

[RoadRunner]

18. my high school class song was "Moon River"

but that's obviously beside the point. Yes it does change that pattern. You see, under the Bush administration, up is down, right is wrong, light is dark. Sooooo, look for the moon to "rise" in the west any day now and move rapidly to the east.

[SmileyBoy]

28. How OLD are you???!!!

Just kiddin. Didn't mean to offend.;)

[RoadRunner]

31. old as dirt, but not as old

as the moon.

[SmileyBoy]

20. One side of it always faces the Earth.

And its cycle is a little over 27 days, similar to the menstrual cycle.;)

[Heyo]

21. I've been looking at it up close tonight...

And I wonder why some areas are completely battered with craters... while other parts are smooooth...

Common sense seems to dictate the smoother part of the surface is younger than the heavily cratered part... but beyond that I'm not sure...

Heyo

[Ediacara]

27. Check post 24

Yes, the smooth areas are younger (but not terribly young in an absolute sense), and are also of a somewhat different mineralogical composition than the white cratered highlands. Both areas are basaltic, but the highlands are almost entirely anorthite plagioclase, while the black mare are just standard issue basalts.

[AquariDem]

22. It's a cookie

with a great big bite taken out of it.

[Heyo]

23. now I'm confused...

I thought it was green cheese.

:shrug:

Heyo

[DemoTex]

The moon is always in the ecliptic plane. Along with the planets.

Generally speaking, the moon rises 40 minutes later every day. That is every day into perpetuity. It rises at night, and it rises (usually unseen) during the day. When the moon rises at the same time the sun sets, it is in "opposition," or a "full" moon as we call it. If a full moon occurs twice in one month, it is called a "blue moon."

[Ediacara]

24. It's made of Basalt

It was formed when a very large object hit the Earth 4+ billion years ago. The global magma chamber differentiated as it slowly cooled, and anorthite plagioclase crystals floated to the top, forming the rugged white highlands covering most of the Moon. Some time later, massive flood basalts erupted and created the relatively flat, black Mare that cover most of the area that faces the Earth.

Countless meteors have hit the Moon, which has created the extensive cratering on the highlands (the Mare basalts appear to have erupted after the period of intense cratering). Dust has also settled on the Moon both from space, and from meteor debris. This has caused the white anorthosite highlands to darken somewhat to a very light gray, and the black Mare basalts to lighten slightly to a very dark gray.

And so there's the Moon in 1000 words or less :-)

[jpgray]

25. The same 57% of its surface is all that is turned towards the Earth (nt)

[oneighty]

26. Catch more crabs

on full moon too.

180

[DemoTex]

29. Dreaded "Shooters' Moon" on the Ho Chi Mihn Trail

Always bad shit on the big moon nights. Always.

[Astarho]

32. You can buy a piece of it

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2226653727&category=3239

if you have enough money (which unfortunatley I don't)

[KadeCarrion]

33. Who owns that there moon anyway?

:hi:

(You spelled unfortunately wrong!) ;-)

[ZenLefty]

34. Our neighbor's bedroom window is across from our kitchen window

Occasionally, when they leave the blinds open, we see the 'moon' in there.