The Moon is humanity's closest companion on our journey through outer space, and also the only celestial body we have visited. Nevertheless, despite its relative proximity to us and its apparent simplicity, our satellite continues to hide many interesting secrets, and some of them are worth learning about.
1. Moonquakes
Despite the fact that, in fact, the Moon is just a dead piece of rock with extremely low geological activity, crustal movements occur there too. They are called moonquakes (by analogy with earthquakes).
There are four types of moonquakes: the first three - deep moonquakes, fluctuations from meteorite impacts and thermal moonquakes caused by solar activity - are relatively harmless. But moonquakes of the fourth kind can be quite unpleasant. Usually they are up to 5.5 points on the Richter scale - this is enough to start shaking small objects. These shocks last for about ten minutes. According to NASA, such moonquakes cause our Moon to "ring like a bell."
The most frightening thing about these moonquakes is that we have no idea what exactly causes them. Earthquakes on Earth are usually caused by the movement of tectonic plates, but there are simply no tectonic plates on the Moon. Some researchers think that they may have some connection with the tidal activity of the Earth, which, as it were, "pulls" the Moon on itself. However, the theory is not supported by anything - tidal forces are associated with full moons, and moonquakes are usually observed at other times.
2. Double planet
Most people are sure that the Moon is a satellite. However, many argue that the Moon should be classified as a planet. On the one hand, it is too large for a real satellite - its diameter is a quarter of the diameter of the Earth, so the Moon can be called the largest satellite in the solar system, given this ratio. Pluto, however, also has a satellite called Charon, whose diameter is equal to half the diameter of Pluto itself. Only now Pluto is no longer considered a real planet, so we will not take Charon into account.
Because of its large size, the Moon is not actually in Earth orbit. The Earth and the Moon revolve around each other and around some point in the center between them. This point is called the barycenter, and the illusion that the Moon is orbiting the Earth is caused by the fact that the center of gravity is currently inside the Earth's crust. It is this fact that does not allow us to classify the Earth with the Moon as a double planet, but in the future the situation may change.
3. Lunar debris
Everyone knows that there was a man on the moon. But not everyone knows that Man (let's write this word with a capital letter on purpose) used the Moon as a standard place for a picnic - the astronauts who visited the Moon left a lot of garbage there. It is believed that about 181,437 kg of artificial materials rest on the surface of the moon.
Of course, not only the astronauts are to blame - they did not deliberately scatter sandwich wrappers and banana peels on the Moon. Much of this debris is left over from various experiments, space probes and lunar rovers, some of which are still functioning today.
4. Moon grave
Eugene "Gene" Shoemaker, a well-known astronomer and geologist, is something of a legend in his circles: he developed methods for the scientific study of cosmic effects, and also invented the techniques that Apollo astronauts used to explore the moon.
Shoemaker wanted to be an astronaut himself, but was unable to get the job due to minor health issues. This remained the biggest disappointment of his life, but Shoemaker nevertheless continued to dream that he would one day be able to visit the moon himself. When he died, NASA fulfilled his deepest wish and sent his ashes to the moon with the Lunar Prospector in 1998. His ashes remain there, scattered among the moondust.
5. Lunar anomalies
Some of the images taken by various satellites show very strange things on the surface of the moon. It seems that there are artificial structures on the Moon, the size of which varies from very tiny, usually in the form of a parallelepiped, to "obelisks" at least 1.5 km high.
Fans of paranormal phenomena even "found" among these objects a large castle, "hanging" high above the surface of the moon. All this seems to indicate an advanced civilization that previously lived on the moon and allegedly built complex structures.
NASA has never debunked these strange theories, despite the fact that all the pictures are most likely faked by conspiracy theorists.
6. Moon dust
One of the most amazing and at the same time the most dangerous things on the moon is lunar dust. As everyone knows, sand penetrates everywhere on Earth, but the dust on the moon is an extremely dangerous substance: it is fine, like flour, but at the same time very coarse. Thanks to its texture and low gravity, it penetrates absolutely anywhere.
NASA has had numerous problems with lunar dust: it tore apart astronauts' boots nearly completely, seeped into ships and spacesuits, and caused "lunar hay fever" in unfortunate astronauts if they inhaled it. It is believed that with prolonged contact with lunar dust, any, even the most durable object, can break.
Oh, by the way, this devilish substance smells like burnt gunpowder.
7. Difficulties with low gravity
Although the gravity on the moon is only one-sixth that of the earth, moving on its surface is quite a feat. Buzz Aldrin said that it would be extremely difficult to establish settlements on the Moon: the legs of astronauts in bulky spacesuits were almost 15 cm buried in lunar dust.
Despite the low gravity, human inertia is high on the Moon, making it difficult to move quickly or change direction. If the astronauts wanted to move faster, they had to pretend to be clumsy kangaroos, which was also a problem, since the Moon is full of craters and other dangerous objects.
8. Origin of the Moon
Where did the moon come from? There is no simple and exact answer, but, nevertheless, science allows us to make several assumptions.
There are five main theories about the origin of the moon. The fission theory claims that the Moon was once part of our planet and separated from it at a very early stage in the history of the Earth - in fact, the Moon could just be in the place of the modern Pacific Ocean. The capture theory says that the moon simply "wandered" through the universe until it was captured by the earth's gravity. Other theories say that our satellite was either formed from the debris of asteroids, or was left from the collision of the Earth with an unknown planet the size of Mars.
The most reliable theory of the origin of the Moon so far is called the Theory of the Rings: a protoplanet (a planet that is just being formed) called Theia collided with the Earth, and the cloud of debris that formed after that eventually came together and turned into the Moon.
9. Moon and sleep
The influence of the Moon and the Earth on each other cannot be denied. However, the influence of the Moon on humans is a source of ongoing debate. Many believe that the full moon is the cause of the strange behavior of people, but science cannot provide conclusive evidence for or against this theory. But science agrees that the moon can disrupt the cycle of human sleep.
According to an experiment conducted at the University of Basel in Switzerland, the phases of the moon affect human sleep cycles in a very specific way. Worst of all, people sleep, as a rule, precisely on the full moon. These results can fully explain the so-called "lunar madness": according to the experiment and the assurances of many people, it is on the full moon that they most often have nightmares.
10. Moon shadows
When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin first set foot on the moon, they made an amazing discovery: the shadows on the moon are much darker than Earth's shadows due to the absence of an atmosphere. All moon shadows are completely black. As soon as the astronauts stepped into the shadows, they could no longer see their own feet, despite the disk of the sun glowing brightly in the sky.
Of course, the astronauts were able to adapt to this, but such a contrast between dark and light areas of the surface still remained a problem. Astronauts have noticed that some shadows - namely their own - have a halo. They later learned that the eerie phenomenon was due to the opposition effect, in which some dark shadow areas appear to have a bright halo, provided that the observer looks at the shadows at a certain angle.
The shadows of the moon have plagued many of the Apollo missions. Some astronauts found it impossible to complete spacecraft maintenance tasks because they couldn't see what their hands were doing. Others thought that they accidentally landed in a cave - such an effect was created due to the shadows cast by the slopes.
11. Lunar magnetism
One of the most interesting mysteries of the Moon is that the Moon has no magnetic field. Surprisingly, at the same time, the stones that astronauts first brought from the Moon to Earth in the 1960s had magnetic properties. Maybe the stones are of alien origin? How can they have magnetic properties if there is no magnetic field on the Moon?
Over the years, science has established that the moon once had a magnetic field, but so far no one can say why it disappeared. There are two main theories: one says that the magnetic field disappeared due to the natural movements of the moon's iron core, and the second claims that this may be due to a series of collisions of the moon with meteorites.
Back in the 1960s, Mikhail Vasin and Alexander Shcherbakov of the USSR Academy of Sciences put forward the hypothesis that our satellite was actually artificially created.
This hypothesis has eight main postulates, popularly called "riddles", which analyze some of the most amazing moments regarding the satellite.
Is the moon an artificial satellite? The first mystery of the moon: artificial moon or cosmic exchange
In fact, the orbit of motion and the size of the Moon's satellite are physically almost impossible. If it were natural, one could argue that this is an extremely strange "whim" of the cosmos. This is due to the fact that the magnitude of the Moon is equal to a quarter of the magnitude of the Earth, and the ratio of the magnitudes of the satellite and the planet is always many times smaller. The distance from the Moon to the Earth is such that the sizes of the Sun and the Moon are visually the same. This allows us to observe such a rare phenomenon as a total solar eclipse, when the Moon completely covers the Sun. The same mathematical impossibility holds for the masses of both celestial bodies. If the Moon were a body that at some point was attracted by the Earth and acquired a natural orbit, then this orbit would be expected to be elliptical. Instead, it is strikingly round.
The second mystery of the moon: the implausible curvature of the surface of the moon 
The incredible curvature that the surface of the Moon possesses is inexplicable. The moon is not a round body. The results of geological studies lead to the conclusion that this planetoid is actually a hollow ball. Although it is, scientists still fail to explain how the Moon can have such a strange structure without being destroyed. One of the explanations proposed by the aforementioned scientists is that the lunar crust was made from a solid titanium framework. Indeed, it has been proven that the lunar crust and rocks have extraordinary levels of titanium content. According to Russian scientists Vasin and Shcherbakov, the thickness of the titanium layer is 30 km.
The Third Mystery of the Moon: Lunar Craters 
The explanation for the presence of a huge number of meteorite craters on the surface of the Moon is widely known - the absence of an atmosphere. Most of the cosmic bodies that are trying to penetrate the Earth encounter kilometers of atmosphere on their way, and everything ends with the “aggressor” disintegrating. The moon does not have the ability to protect its surface from the scars left by all the meteorites crashing into it - craters of various sizes. What remains inexplicable is the shallow depth to which the aforementioned bodies were able to penetrate. Indeed, it looks as if a layer of extremely strong substance did not allow meteorites to penetrate into the center of the satellite. Even craters with a diameter of 150 kilometers do not exceed 4 kilometers deep into the moon. This feature is inexplicable in terms of normal observations that there should be craters at least 50 km deep.
The fourth riddle of the moon: "lunar seas" 
How did the so-called "lunar seas" form? These gigantic areas of solid lava that comes from the interior of the Moon could easily be explained if the Moon were a hot planet with a liquid interior where they could originate from meteorite impacts. But physically much more likely is that the Moon, judging by its size, has always been a cold body. Another mystery is the location of the "lunar seas". Why are 80% of them on the visible side of the moon?
The Fifth Mystery of the Moon: Mascons 
The gravitational pull on the Moon's surface is not uniform. This effect had already been noted by the Apollo VIII crew as they circled the lunar seas. Mascons (from "Mass Concentration" - concentration of mass) are places where matter is believed to exist in greater density or in large quantities. This phenomenon is closely related to the lunar seas, since the mascons are located under them.
The Sixth Mystery of the Moon: Geographical Asymmetry 
A rather shocking fact in science, which still cannot be explained, is the geographical asymmetry of the Moon's surface. The famous "dark" side of the Moon has many more craters, mountains and landforms. In addition, as we have already mentioned, most of the seas, on the contrary, are on the side that we can see.
The Seventh Mystery of the Moon: The Low Density of the Moon 
The density of our satellite is 60% of the density of the Earth. This fact, together with various studies, proves that the Moon is a hollow object. Moreover, several scientists have ventured to suggest that the aforementioned cavity is artificial. In fact, given the location of the surface layers that have been identified, scientists claim that the Moon looks like a planet that formed "in reverse", and some use this as an argument in favor of the "artificial casting" theory.
The Eighth Riddle of the Moon: Origins 
In the last century, for a long time, three theories of the origin of the moon were conditionally accepted. At present, most of the scientific community has accepted the hypothesis of the artificial origin of the planetoid of the Moon as no less justified than others.
One theory suggests that the Moon is a fragment of the Earth. But the enormous differences in the nature of these two bodies make this theory practically untenable.
Another theory is that this celestial body was formed at the same time as the Earth, from the same cloud of cosmic gas. But the previous conclusion is also valid in relation to this judgment, since the Earth and the Moon would have to have at least a similar structure.
The third theory suggests that, while wandering through space, the Moon fell into the earth's gravity, which caught and turned it into its "captive". The big flaw with this explanation is that the Moon's orbit is practically circular and cyclic. With such a phenomenon (when the satellite is "caught" by the planet), the orbit would be sufficiently removed from the center or, at least, would be a kind of ellipsoid.
The fourth assumption is the most improbable of all, but, in any case, it can explain the various anomalies that are associated with the Earth's satellite, since if the Moon was constructed by intelligent beings, then the physical laws to which it is subject to action would not be equally applicable to other celestial bodies.
The riddles of the Moon put forward by the scientists Vasin and Shcherbakov are only some of the real physical estimates of the anomalies of the Moon. In addition, there are many other video, photo evidence and studies that give confidence to those who think about the possibility that our "natural" satellite is not one.
Recently, a controversial video appeared on the network, which will be interesting within the framework of the topic under consideration:
Description for the video:
This video is made from Germany and filmed over 4 days starting July 7, 2014. It is clearly seen how waves “run through” the surface of the Moon, or rather a strip, and this is similar to how the image of the lunar surface that we see from Earth is updated.
No matter how crazy it may sound, but precisely such bands have been noticed more than once when shooting with various video cameras and telescopes. I think anyone with a good zoom camcorder will be able to see the same thing.
And how can you explain this, may I ask? In my opinion, several explanations are possible, and all of them will not please the adherents of the generally accepted picture of the world.
1. There is no Moon in the Earth's orbit at all, but there is only a flat projection (hologram) that creates the appearance of its presence. Moreover, this projection is technically quite primitive, judging by the fact that its creators were forced to create exactly a flat projection, and that is why the moon is turned to us on one side. This is simply saving resources to maintain the visible part of the moon.
2. In the orbit of the Earth, there is indeed a certain object whose dimensions correspond to the "Moon" visible to us from the Earth, but in fact what we see is only a hologram - a disguise created over the object. By the way, this explains why no one flies to the Moon. I think all the states that have sent their spacecraft to the "Moon" are well aware that under the guise of what we see from the Earth, there is something completely different.
In favor of these versions, those facts that have long been surprising in their illogicality fit in:
- Why does humanity send spacecraft into deep space, but completely ignores the planet closest to us.
- Why are all the photographs of the moon transmitted by earth satellites of such disgusting quality.
- Why astronomers with perfect telescopes cannot take pictures of the lunar surface in quality comparable even with pictures from Mars or from earth satellites. Why are satellites flying in Earth's orbit capable of taking a photograph of the surface on which the car number is visible, and lunar satellites take pictures of the surface in such a resolution that the tongue cannot be called photography.
In addition, we present two excerpts from RenTV films on the theme of the Moon. The reputation of this channel is known to everyone, however, the information provided is useful for analyzing the arguments proposed above.
The moon - its mysteries and mysteries
It would seem that the Moon is always in sight and it cannot be associated with some national secrets. Nevertheless, some secrets of the moon, apparently, are carefully hidden. This is forced to think about the strangeness of the studies of the night star. The published information about the results of flights to the Moon is only part of the information received. And yet, sometimes you can see some "traces" leading to steel safes.
1973 - the Soviet news agency Novosti informed Western readers (but not citizens of their country!) About the mysterious find of Lunokhod-2:
Lunokhod began to study a strange piece of lunar material that was ejected from the lunar interior during the formation of a large crater. This one-meter-long slab, which resembled the panel of a modern house, turned out to be absolutely monolithic. The cart's pressure of a hundred atmospheres left only a faint mark on the thin layer of dust that covered it. The slab has a smooth surface, while the giant rocks that lie nearby are covered in tiny crater holes.
The study of stones at the foot of the ancient Taurus Mountains showed that they have been lying there for tens and even hundreds of millions of years. The mysterious slab looks much younger... It was decided to investigate it further to try to determine its chemical composition and magnetic properties... Most of the rock fragments around are probably the result of the formation of a crater. The stone slab that surprised scientists clearly has nothing to do with this.
Despite the “artificial” appearance of the plate and the great interest in it of scientists and the public, there were no more publications about this case. There is nothing surprising in this - after all, the discovery promises new, strategically important advantages in technology, economics and politics ...
Accusations of concealing information do not cease to be heard against NASA. Thus, the American researcher J.H. Leonard is confident in the presence of intelligent beings of other worlds on the Moon. He bluntly remarked: "Ignorance of their goals led to the classification of the truth about the moon." F.Stekling also wrote about the secrets of the Moon:
Of course, the military is trying to protect the country. Maybe that's why they keep as many things as secret as possible about the Moon... While "defending" an unsuspecting public is justified, in some cases "overprotection" can also be harmful to minds... I'm sure there are plenty of pictures that may remain unanalyzed by NASA due to lack of funds, but I also know that many close-up photographs are placed in classified files.
And although the books of Leonard and Steckling are rather naive and unsubstantiated, their fear of classifying part of the lunar information, perhaps, finds indirect confirmation.
For example, an American engineer, V. Sacheri, published a detailed description of his attempts to see the original photographs of the Apollo expeditions, to which J. H. Leonard was referring. It turned out that access to the repository of lunar materials in Houston is burdened with all the trappings of secrecy. After many days of delays, filling out a large number of forms and security checks, Sacheri was still allowed into the vault for 24 hours, but ... on the condition that he would not have a camera, pen, paper, or even a calculator! He was not left unattended for a minute, he was even escorted to the dining room and to the toilet.
A very strange mode for storing purely scientific data on the demilitarized Moon ... True, Sacheri himself claims that there were reasons for this - he allegedly saw unusually clear pictures of what seemed to him the tracks, machines and structures of intelligent beings. However, having ordered copies of them, I received only something vague ...
Against the backdrop of numerous unfounded and contradictory statements by ufologists, articles by the American enthusiast R. Smith stand out noticeably. Over the course of several years, comparing photographs of our satellite taken from the Earth and spacecraft, he encountered a number of interesting contradictions. R. Smith wrote in Selenology magazine:
The US government has been able to modify images using computer technology since at least the Lunar Orbiters. Assuming that alien artifacts have been discovered on the Moon, there is no reason to believe that the American public could have been informed of this.
He suspected retouching of images of Cape Agar in the Sea of Crises on photographs of the Lunar Orbiter-4 station and the Apollo 15 and -17 expeditions. In those pictures, R. Smith could not detect some surface details that are clearly visible from the Earth. In particular, in the high-resolution image transmitted by the Lunar Orbiter-4 photosonde, only a “large white spot” is visible instead of Cape Agarsky. And the US Air Force analyst, to whom the puzzled researcher showed photos of this place taken from the Apollo 17 board, considered that the Cape was heavily retouched.
R. Smith considers another case of retouching images of Apollo 17 to be a small isthmus that connects the hill northwest of the Yerkes crater with the edge of the Sea of Crisis. This detail was not only observed visually from Earth, but it was also found in the images of the Lick Observatory, the Lunar Orbiter 4 station and Apollo 16 as a "white bridge-like detail." Directly over the "bridge" flew "Apollo 17" and took two photographs in which ... there is no hint of the isthmus. “These images are in direct contradiction to other NASA images. Clearly something is a lie!” - wrote R. Smith.
Another example of hiding images of some details of the surface of the Moon, the researcher considers three curious platforms with "sharply defined shadows of rectangular outlines" near the Archimedes crater. It turned out that the platforms are clearly visible in the Lunar Orbiter 4 photo, but in the Apollo 15 image, instead of uplifts, you can see "a foggy spot in each case, as if it had been cleaned up." R. Smith noted: "My opinion: the shadows in the picture hide the existence of artifacts that are retouched."
It is understandable why R. Smith called one of his articles in Selenology quite sharply: “Patterns of deception. Why You Shouldn't Trust NASA Pictures. Nevertheless, his publications did not cause any noticeable reaction. Although, this was to be expected, regardless of whether he was mistaken or not ...
D. M. Har, who worked at NASA's Houston Photo Lab, was a witness in the "case" of censoring space images at NASA. She kindly sent me her article about the strange meeting:
…While working in a photo lab, I wandered into one of the adjacent rooms, designated as “Closed Area”. I had a secret clearance, so it was not scary ... In this room, a mosaic was being made on a large table. The mosaic consisted of several small satellite images stacked together to create a large image of the earth's surface... Looking at these images, which were stacked like tiles on a floor, I noticed a small round dot near what looked like a wooded area.
I asked the laboratory assistant: “What is this?”. He replied, “I can't tell you! What do you think it looks like?" I said, "It looks like a white spot on the film that hasn't developed," to which he retorted, "But the white bubbles in the emulsion don't cast round shadows on the surface." Then I noticed that the white spot and the trees were casting shadows at the same angle, and I realized that this bright white dot was a solid object, not a flaw in the film's emulsion. I asked: "Is this a UFO?" He shook his head smiling, "I can't tell." I then asked him what he would do with this information, and he informed me of the order to remove these "things" from all pictures before they were published.
D.Har's story was captured on film by a Japanese group who specially visited America for the filming of the film in June 1992. Later, D. Har herself appeared in the American press. And it doesn't matter whether the object she saw was something anomalous or just a large hot air balloon (hot air balloon) - NASA's fear of leaking this kind of information is already curious.
Quite curious is the interview of Karl Wolf, who worked as a technician in the 4444th technical intelligence group at the US Tactical Air Command Headquarters at Langley Field. He was involved in the interpretation of images of U-2 reconnaissance aircraft and spy satellites. But in 1966, he was connected to the processing of the first images of the surface of our satellite, obtained by the space station Lunar Orbiter-1.
First, Wolf was already surprised by the fact that the primary processing of the images of the Moon was carried out not by NASA specialists in Houston, but at the Langley Air Force Base (note that the CIA headquarters is also located in Langley). Moreover, this work was carried out with all the signs of secrecy - with special passes, accompanying officers and restrictions on communication between employees.
“I saw geometric shapes. I saw structures and this is the best answer I can give you. I saw structures that weren't natural structures on the lunar surface... They were miles away on the surface... I often remember seeing a tower with reflectors on it, round objects that looked like telemetry dish covers... I actually thought, that it might be on the news... I remember waiting and waiting and watching the news every night. But nothing happened!
NASA's jealous attitude to photographs of strange phenomena on the Moon was reported by the former engineer of this department, K. Johnston.
1996, March 21 - at a press conference in Washington in front of 16 television cameras, he told how he was one of the first to see a movie that had just been shot by the Apollo 14 expedition. There, allegedly, 5-6 lights were visible in one of the craters and something like a plume of smoke. The next day, Johnston told his work colleagues about it. But when the film was shown again, those frames turned out to be cut out on the orders of his boss, Dr. T. Page ...
M. Bara described in detail on the Internet his doubts about the published photographs of the Moon, which were made by the Clementine spacecraft. Comparing photographs of the floor of the Plato crater, he wrote: “In my opinion, this difference (between the photos) leads to two conclusions. Either the 'official' image was altered prior to publication, or there is some 'veil' over Plato hiding the plain."
The American T. James tried to solve the problem head-on by asking NASA management direct questions:
"one. Has or does anyone within NASA have the authority to censor and classify documents, images, and/or data in accordance with official guidelines?
2. Are documents, images, and/or data obtained by NASA by any means subject to censorship and classification (as per current policy) by any contractor, agent, or other government agency not necessarily (directly or indirectly) affiliated with NASA?
3. Have documents, images, and/or data obtained by NASA ever been classified in any way?”
The results of the experiment are quite curious. It turned out that at that time in the leadership of NASA there were two persons authorized to review and classify space information - these are D. Goldin and M. Borey. James requested the Director of NASA Security - M. Borei, focusing on "any images of planets that are not related to the Earth." This response followed:
Yes, these are very good questions. But, I can't reply to them by email. Please contact the Freedom of Information Act Office in Washington…”
In fact, the author of the request was kicked off to the US government to issue an official request with all its bureaucratic red tape and an unclear outcome. As you can see, NASA has reason to hide some of the information about the Moon.
And in the space companies of the USSR, the regime of secrecy was, no doubt, much stricter. Instead of retouching and denominations, apparently, they simply closed free access to all the results of flights to the moon. But the moon itself cannot be hidden in a safe. And at times, astronomers, both amateurs and professionals, become eyewitnesses of mysterious phenomena on the night star. The President of the American Lunar Society, D. Darling, in one of his letters to the author of the book, remarked on this subject:
“I must agree that some lunar short-term phenomena observed over the course of centuries could be the effects of an alien presence on the Moon. This is a difficult topic for research in the US and is viewed as taboo."
Observers noticed mysterious moving objects on the Earth's satellite long before the start of the "saucer" boom in 1947. Perhaps the first such message dates back to 1715, when the famous astronomers E. Halley and J.E. de Louville, during a solar eclipse in London, saw “some flashes or instantaneous vibrations of light rays, as if someone were setting fire to powder paths with which mines are blown up ...
These flashes of light were very short-lived and appeared first in one place, then in another, but always from the side of the shadow. Since that time, such prominent astronomers as S. Messier, I. Schroeter, W. Brooks, V. Shafarzhik, W. Pickering and I. Klassen have reported on the movement on the Moon. The set of hypotheses about the nature of unusual phenomena was quite wide - from terrestrial meteors to lunar lightning.
But in the scientific community of the first half of the 20th century, the opinion prevailed that the Moon is dead not only in the biological, but also in the geological sense. Selenologists were skeptical of all reports of changes on the moon's surface. And yet in 1941-1946. four observers from America noted a dozen "lunar meteors", although the Moon, as we now know, does not have a sufficiently dense permanent atmosphere for the occurrence of meteor phenomena.
Noticeable interest in the problem reappeared in the 1950s in the wake of interest in UFOs. A number of books appeared, the authors of which published summaries of reports of "unidentified flying objects on the moon", which later became a canonical part of UFO folklore. Unfortunately, this folklore is more reminiscent of Scheherazade's tales than science - after numerous retellings, real events were sometimes distorted beyond recognition, turning into real legends.
In the 60s of the last century, specialists became interested in moving objects on the Moon, after all. Some of these phenomena have been included in the catalogs of short-term lunar phenomena, in particular in the catalogs of NASA (1968, 1978). Six photographs have been published in the astronomical literature documenting movement on the Moon. However, unfortunately, things did not go beyond mentions and descriptions of individual cases.
Secrets of the Moon - the lunar circus lights fires
Astronomers call circuses gigantic, half-flooded with solidified lava lunar craters. It was there, in the rings of high mountains, that they could notice mysterious lights, similar to the game of unknown guest performers.
In honor of the great philosopher, Plato named one of the most beautiful lunar circuses - a round plain with a diameter of about a hundred kilometers, surrounded by a ring of mountains as high as the Himalayas. Almost half a century ago, researcher D. Leslie (England) wrote:
“It seems that the Moon, which was considered a dead and uninhabited planet, is used by space travelers as a convenient observatory or a place to rest ... I have found that at times significant activity takes place on its surface. Not "the dim light of faint volcanic activity" observed by Patrick Moore, but energetic, moving, sparkling lights and patterns, many of which could be observed in the vicinity of the Plato crater, which seems to be something like a lunar headquarters.
As a rule, only 8% of the anomalous phenomena of the Moon happened in this circus, but sometimes some kind of “fuss” begins there, and then Plato’s share jumps 2-4 times. According to NASA, the years 1869-1877 were especially turbulent. and 1895–1927
Perhaps the greatest mystery of Plato is the "searchlight" that was occasionally observed in him, which shone with an even light for tens of minutes. It was first noticed by the young Italian astronomer Francesco Bianchini on December 10, 1685. During the lunar eclipse, a mysterious streak of red light stretched across Plato, as if someone was struggling with an unexpected darkness. Only 40 years later F. Bianchini was lucky to see this phenomenon again.
1751 - a strip of yellow light at the bottom of Plato immersed in night darkness was simultaneously seen by three people, including the famous astronomer from Scotland, J. Short. The selenographer T. Alger in 1871, as well as the astronomers L. Brenner and F.I.G. Fout in 1895, wrote about the mysterious strip of light. Already in the 20th century, the same phenomenon was reported at least 7 times.
In addition to a ray-like band, observers sometimes described a temporary bright point of light. So on January 11, 1788, several eyewitnesses in the German city of Mannheim noticed her on the unlit part of our satellite, just in the place where Plato's circus is located. The same night fire was seen again in the same 1788. It burned for about two days. A rather effective description of this kind of phenomenon was made on March 5, 1919 by an experienced Russian observer S. Selivanov:
…I could make out many details on the dark side of the moon. They were all a rather monotonous lilac-gray-green color. But the circus Plato turned out to be intensely green. A little to the left of the center of its bottom, a brightly shining point of phosphorescent light was visible, which seemed to illuminate the entire interior of the circus so that even the outlines of its inner shaft were distinguishable. Throughout the observation period (from 07:20 to 07:35) this glow remained unchanged. G. Tagarkov, who observed with me, described the phenomenon identically with me. I'm not going to explain the glow.
This mystery of the Moon, this anomalous phenomenon has not been explained to this day. It is only clear that no cloud of gas ejected into vacuum from the bowels of a night star, or lightning in a gas-dust mixture, is capable of producing a point glow that remains unchanged for 15 minutes! After all, artificial comets (gas clouds), specially ejected into space, dissipate and go out in a matter of minutes. In addition, in order for a point of light to “illuminate the entire interior of the circus”, it must be at a height of at least 700 meters above the surface of the almost flat bottom of Plato. Involuntarily, the thought arises that this is an artificial light source ...
A. Arkhipov
attracted attention in antiquity. Astrologers and healers, priests, poets and artists closely studied this heavenly body. Even simple farmers tried to adjust their work related to plowing and harvesting to it. Holidays and sacrifices were compared with the lunar cycles. They believed: Fair-faced has a strong influence on man and nature. The Moon has long been considered both a symbol of love and violence.
And today this interest has not faded away. Fortunately for us, modern technologies allow us not only to observe it from the ground, but also to launch aircraft and entire expeditions into space! Cynologists design fantasy films; the forums are actively discussing hypotheses of origin, anomalous phenomena on the moon, and related mysterious phenomena; and grandmothers are still guided by lunar calendars in the sowing season.
Mysterious, alluring - the Moon has always given rise to an innumerable number of conjectures and questions. What do we know about her?
Moon Facts
The moon is the only satellite of our planet. It is the fifth largest and the second densest of all known satellites of the solar system. The lunar surface is coal-dark, which does not prevent it from being the brightest object among other celestial bodies at night.
The moon has a rather low density: 3.34 grams per cubic centimeter. For comparison, the cavity is 5.5 grams per cubic centimeter.
Experts suggest that unlike the Earth, the Moon does not have a heavy iron core. And in general, it does not have such a high concentration of iron as on our planet. But - there is uranium 236 and neptunium 237.
At the same time, our satellite has almost the same structure as the Earth.
Namely:
- bark;
- upper mantle;
- inner mantle;
- molten outer core;
- crystalline inner core.
There is a relative identity in the content of oxygen isotopes of the Earth and the Moon. This gives rise to the idea of creating these planets at the same distance from the Sun.
View others.
water on the moon
Everyone knows that in outer space water is a very rare phenomenon. Is there water on the moon? Three space satellites, one after another, confirmed this assumption. As recent studies show, water molecules are scattered over the entire surface (and not just in craters or deep in the ground, as previously thought); these molecules are cyclically destroyed, then recreated again.
Man and life on the moon
Someone may cherish dreams of going on a trip to the moon. And for a select few lucky ones, it's not just a dream. What about life on the moon? How long can you stay there?
The living conditions described by the astronauts who visited our satellite are clearly not suitable for a full-fledged human existence. At least - at the current level of civilization, as some believe. And that's why. There is no atmosphere, air, special magnetic field, fertile soil on this cosmic body. Gravity is not as strong as on our planet. There is not enough water and catastrophic temperature drops (on average from -260 to +260 degrees). The Moon, as a protective shield, takes on the blows of most meteorites and their fragments that threaten to collide with the Earth. Living on it is by no means safe, as it may seem!
Those are harsh conditions! But despite this, scientists still continue to work, developing the latest versions of the conquest of this Magnificent Moon - our extraordinary and only satellite!
The Moon is our closest satellite in space and so far the only celestial body on whose surface a human foot has set foot.
And yet, despite its proximity and relative knowledge, our satellite continues to keep many interesting secrets and mysteries. Moreover, those strange phenomena that occur there have a significant impact on human life.
Lunar tremors
Despite the presence of dead pieces of rock with low geological activity, our satellite is still prone to shaking. These tremors, or the so-called moonquakes, are of 4 different types. Three types of them - deep shocks, vibrations from meteorite impact and thermal shocks caused by the Sun - are relatively harmless. But the fourth kind is rather unpleasant. The strength of these tremors can reach up to 5 on the Richter scale. With such shocks, large-sized furniture can come into motion. Moonquakes last relatively long - 10 minutes. According to NASA, during the concussion, the Moon begins to “ring” like a bell.
Many people think that our Moon can be classified as a planet. After all, its dimensions are quite large - a quarter of the diameter of the globe. In our solar system, it is the largest moon in relation to its planet. Due to its enormous size, the Moon does not actually rotate around the Earth. The Earth and its satellite orbit around the barycenter - the point between them. The illusion that the Moon rotates around the Earth comes from the fact that the barycenter is now located in the Earth's crust. Since the barycenter is located in the Earth, therefore, the two planets Earth and the Moon are not considered twins, but are perceived as a planet and a satellite. However, things may turn out differently in the future.
As you already know, man has been to the moon. And, as usual, he left behind a certain amount of garbage. It is believed that more than 181 thousand kilograms of artificial materials have already been collected on the lunar surface. Don't worry, the astronauts didn't litter this place on purpose. Most of this waste is debris from various experiments, lunar rovers and space probes. In addition, there is real garbage there - containers with astronaut waste.
Eugene Schumacher, a famous astronomer and geologist, was a true legend in his field. He explored the influences of the cosmos and came up with ways for the Apollo astronauts to study the moon. Schumacher himself, due to his state of health, could not become an astronaut, because of which he was very worried. He did not lose hope one day still be on the moon. After his death, NASA honored his final request by scattering his ashes in 1998 on the lunar surface.
On a number of pictures taken by various devices on the lunar surface, rather strange things are visible. Many images show artificial structures such as, for example, pyramids. Someone even saw a castle hovering above the surface of the moon. These anomalies allegedly serve as evidence that an advanced civilization once lived there. And NASA is in no hurry to refute these assumptions.
Dust on the moon is one of the mysterious dangers. Moondust is similar in appearance to flour, but is extremely coarse. Due to its structure and the low gravity of the Moon, it clings to just about everything, causing a lot of problems for astronauts. This dust could almost completely destroy the boots, and seeped into the suits, causing moon fever.
The gravity of our satellite is only six times less than that observed on our planet. However, walking on the moon is extremely difficult. Buzz Aldrin, famous NASA astronaut, said that the Moon is a very difficult environment to travel. Astronauts move extremely clumsily on the lunar surface, their boots sinking 15 cm into the lunar dust. Despite the reduced gravity, the inertia on the lunar surface is quite high, so it is impossible to move quickly here or it is difficult to change direction. And the landscape on the Moon is problematic: with craters and other dangers. So before you buy a site on the moon, think carefully.
The reason for the appearance of the moon is still unclear. There are only theories and assumptions, among which there are five main ones. In accordance with the Theory of Splitting, the Moon was once part of our Earth, and then separated from it. According to the Capture theory, the Moon simply flew somewhere in the universe, and then our planet pulled it towards itself. Today, scientists are more inclined to the Giant Theory of Influence, according to which the emerging planet Theia flew into our Earth, and then the Moon was formed from a large number of fragments.
The effect of the moon on sleep
The moon definitely affects the Earth, and the reverse process also occurs. But there is still debate on this issue. Many believe that because of the full moon, people have strange behavior, although from a scientific point of view, evidence has not been provided. But still, scientists have already confirmed one thing: the moon can change the cycle of our sleep. This was confirmed by experiments conducted by the Swiss University of Basel. People have the worst sleep during the full moon.
One of the first discoveries of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldin, who first stepped on the lunar surface, was this: the lunar shadows are much darker than we have on Earth due to the lack of an atmosphere. Everything where the sun did not hit was black black. As soon as they stepped into the shadow, it immediately disappeared, despite the bright sun in the sky. Lunar shadows significantly complicated the Apollo research. It was difficult for astronauts to perform maintenance, and it was also difficult to land the apparatus on the surface, since often on a perfectly flat surface there was an illusion that there was a slope there.
One of the well-known mysteries of the Moon is its lack of a magnetic field. But the stones brought in the 60-70s by astronauts from the lunar surface were magnetized. How could this happen? Maybe the stones on the moon somehow got from space, but how? Scientists have realized that our Moon once had a magnetic field. And for what reason the field disappeared is still unclear. According to one theory, it is believed that the field was lost due to the natural movement of the lunar core, and another hypothesis connects this phenomenon with the fall of large asteroids.
Thank you for telling your friends about us!
