NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 16 January 2023: Moon-pockmarked by asteroid strikes | Tech News

NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day 16 January 2023: Moon-pockmarked by asteroid strikes

NASA’s Astronomy Picture of the Day is a stunning image of the Moon, showing all of its features in detail.

By: HT TECH
| Updated on: Jan 16 2023, 12:12 IST
How well do you know Earth's Moon? How did it form, rotation, its orbit? Get up close and familiar- 5 points
Moon
1/5 How did the Moon form? According to the information provided by NASA, the leading theory behind the formation of the Moon is that a Mars-sized object collided with Earth billions of years ago, and debris from this collision eventually formed the Moon. (NASA)
Moon
2/5 Moon's rotation: The time it takes for the Moon to rotate once on its axis is equal to the time it takes for the Moon to orbit once around Earth. This keeps the same side of the Moon facing towards Earth throughout the month. (NASA)
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3/5 Moon orbit Earth: According to NASA, the Moon takes about one month to orbit Earth (27.3 days to complete a revolution, but 29.5 days to change from New Moon to New Moon). As the Moon completes each 27.3-day orbit around Earth, both Earth and the Moon are moving around the Sun. Because of this change in position, sunlight appears to hit the Moon at a slightly different angle on day 27 than it does on day zero ― even though the Moon itself has already traveled all the way around Earth. It takes a little more than two additional days for sunlight to hit the Moon in the same way it did on day zero. This is why it takes 29.5 days to get from new moon to new moon, even though it doesn’t take quite that long for the Moon itself to travel once around Earth. (NASA)
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4/5 Does the Moon have gravity? What would happen if there was no Moon? The Moon does have gravity. Because the Moon has less mass than Earth, its gravitational pull is weaker (about one-sixth of Earth’s). On the Moon, you will be able to jump about six times as high as you can on Earth ― but you would still come back down, informs NASA. Also, If there would be no Moon, Earth would be a very different world. The Moon’s gravity keeps our planet from wobbling on its axis too much, which helps to stabilize our climate. The Moon also plays an important role in creating tides in Earth’s oceans. (NASA)
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5/5 Who Has Walked on the Moon? Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin were the first of 12 human beings to walk on the Moon. Four of America's moonwalkers are still alive: Aldrin (Apollo 11), David Scott (Apollo 15), Charles Duke (Apollo 16), and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17). In all, 24 American astronauts made the trip from Earth to the Moon between 1968 and 1972. Three astronauts made the journey from Earth to the Moon twice: James Lovell (Apollo 8 and Apollo 13), John Young (Apollo 10 and Apollo 16), and Gene Cernan (Apollo 10 and Apollo 17). (NASA)
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The lunar surface is heavily cratered due to numerous asteroid strikes, as seen in this captured image. (NASA/Darya Kawa Mirza)

The Moon has long been one of the central pieces of the studies related to Earth. Its presence influences various phenomena on the planet, such as tides. The Moon is believed to have formed about 4.5 billion years ago, shortly after the formation of the solar system. According to one theory , a huge Mars-sized celestial object called Theia collided with Earth around 4.5 billion years ago and the Moon was formed in the aftermath of the collision. It is the only place beyond Earth where humans have set foot so far.

NASA's Astronomy Picture of the Day is a high-res image of Earth's Moon, also known as Luna in Latin. Though most images show the Moon as a clear white sphere, in reality, the lunar surface is heavily cratered due to numerous asteroid strikes on its surface during its 4.6 billion year old history.

The image was captured by Kurdish astrophotographer Darya Kawa Mirza. It is a composite of multiple images and enhanced to bring up real features of the lunar surface.

NASA's explanation

Our Moon doesn't really look like this. Earth's Moon doesn't naturally show this rich texture, and its colors are more subtle. But this digital creation is based on reality. The featured image is a composite of multiple images and enhanced to bring up real surface features. The enhancements, for example, show more clearly craters that illustrate the tremendous bombardment our Moon has been through during its 4.6-billion-year history.

The dark areas, called "maria", have fewer craters and were once seas of molten lava. Additionally, the image colors, although based on the moon's real composition, are changed and exaggerated. Here, a blue hue indicates a region that is iron rich, while orange indicates a slight excess of aluminum. Although the Moon has shown the same side to the Earth for billions of years, modern technology is allowing humanity to learn much more about it -- and how it affects the Earth.

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First Published Date: 16 Jan, 12:08 IST
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