2809: Moon

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Moon

Title text: I mean, it's pretty, but it doesn't really affect us beyond that. Except that half the nights aren't really dark, and once or twice a day it makes the oceans flood the coasts.

Explanation

This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a STRANGE ORB FLOATING IN THE SKY. Do NOT delete this tag too soon. If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

The Moon is a celestial body orbiting Earth first formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago, about 50 million years after the initial formation of the solar system. As of today (August 1st, 2023), the Moon is still orbiting the Earth^{[citation needed]} at a distance of approximately 384,400 kilometers, or about 238,900 miles.

This comic points out how weird it is to have such an enormous celestial body near to us. The second nearest, Venus, is approximately 46.576 million kilometers away at its closest. The Moon is close enough that we can see the craters and other stuff on the surface with our naked eye, though a telescope would help.

There are other planets with moons,^{[citation needed]} but Earth's moon is very big compared to Earth - Mars's moons are way smaller and the biggest moon in our solar system, Ganymede, is just twice as massive with 1.5 the radius despite orbiting Jupiter, which is 317x more massive than Earth with 11x bigger radius.

In human history, we have landed twelve people on the moon in the Apollo missions from 1969 to 1972. Despite advancements in technology since then,^{[citation needed]} we have yet to land another person on the Moon, though plans are being made.

The title text refers to two facts how the moon majorly impacts life on earth, which also would seem strange if it wasn't real: Firstly the lunar cycle, in which the Moon's orbit is roughly half the time on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun and (being visibly at least half illuminated, whilst there, except briefly during rare eclipses) provides a low but significant amount of reflected illumination that nature (as well as humanity) has found a nocturnal use for. Secondly, the title text also refers to the tides, a very nearly twice-daily cycle where the Moon's gravity (modified by the Sun's) subtly pulls upon the Earth and dragging the waters of the seas and oceans around to periodically increasing the sea levels in most places.

Transcript

This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.

[Ponytail points to something in the sky, presumably the moon. Cueball stands nearby.]

Ponytail: That thing hanging in the sky is a second nearby world. It's close enough that you can see its surface as it passes overhead.

Cueball: Wow. Isn't that... weird?

Ponytail: I dunno, it's just always been there.

[Caption below the panel:]

If it didn't exist, the moon would sound like such an outlandish sci-fi concept.

Trivia

Earth's moon is weird for an additional two reasons. First, it is by far the largest and most massive moon relative to the planet it orbits. Secondly, our moon is the only moon in the solar system to not have a proper name, not even a jumble of letters and numbers. In English it is simply given the proper name of "the Moon" (capitalized), being the ancient archetype for all other moons discovered since the time of Galileo, although it can also be described by other titles such as "Luna" (directly taken from from Latin mythology/astronomy).

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Discussion

Happy birthday to me. This comic is a good birthday present, so I'm gonna try to add some stuff to the explanation now. R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 02:11, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Okay, added a Trivia section and a lot of stuff to the explanation. Request someone help add more information about lunar cycles and some wikipedia links. R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 02:35, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Ah, well, I added more (sufficient? ...haven't wikilinked yet) info about the illumination/tide cycles. i.e. about half the time (at least) half reilluminating areas on the night side of Earth + roughly twice a day dragging/flinging the tides 'upwards' (modifying the Sun's own twice-daily effects).

Had to heavily qualify the secondary Trivia point, for caveats. I mean selenically-specific names aren't rare, when refering to orb sometimes known as Phoebe/Cynthia, until you become more precise about "common English use". Didn't say anything about (the) Earth, but did mention the Sun(/suns in general) in the edit comment. Interesting point to make, but not so much unusual as stemming from long time (way into prehistory!) custom so really being the heavily weighted precedent. 172.70.90.187 05:21, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

...what? I don't understand. R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 05:32, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

"it can also be described by other titles such as "Luna" (directly taken from from Latin mythology/astronomy)." It's not true that "the Moon doesn't have a name". It is the Moon (unlike other moons), plus all kinds of other names (historical, other culture and/or other language; such as Chandra/Igaluk/Chang'e). But it is interesting to note that, until we were able to imagine (and/or see) moons orbiting other things up in the sky, there was just its proper name. Whatever it might be. Only after we anticipated the existence of satellites of other planets (and, perhaps, other satellites of our own planet), having first recognised what other planets actually were (distinct from stars, with those being other suns than our Sun/Sol/Ra/...) was it meaningful that the name(s) we did use for it might be re-used to describe the class of things that were like it. But they then really needed their own fresh names/catalogue numbers. 172.71.242.15 10:11, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

Reminds me of that conversation from Dragonheart (paraphrized as I only watched the German dub): "So instead of calling me 'dragon" in your language you call me 'dragon' in another language... I think I like it" Elektrizikekswerk (talk) 07:16, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

If there was no Moon, would an Earth astronomer that discovered moons around one of the other planets be considered a loony? These Are Not The Comments You Are Looking For (talk) 02:40, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

If there was no moon, it's quite possible there would be no intelligent life on Earth. Also, when Galileo Galilei found Jupiter's moons, he was totally considered loony by some, while others said it's defect of the telescope. Remember that at that point of history, suggesting that if Earth has moon, other planets might have one too was something you could be burned on stake for. -- Hkmaly (talk) 03:13, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Definitely not. (I see what you did there.) --172.70.247.155 12:55, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

I doubt the title text is intended as a reference to that saying. 172.69.247.51 04:17, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

Yeah, I don't get how that is related either. The title text references that it is pretty, but the nmoves away from that. Not sure how that is related to a quote that doesn't even use the word "pretty". --Lupo (talk) 09:28, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

I mean, the word "beautiful" and "pretty" have common meanings, so I thought about that connection, but if no one else made the connection, so be it. R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 05:30, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

I think if that connection was meant to be invoked it would just say beautiful, or get more into detail of the way it is pretty/beautiful. However it was just used as a kind of connector to make the other mentioned aspects seem more minor. --Lupo (talk) 08:05, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

Like many things,^{[citation needed]} it has probably seemed usual whilst we only know our own example. Once we started to find other examples out there, we can discover the ways in which it's an outlier. (Martian: "Well of course there's those two small rock 'stars' visibly zipping around overhead, that's what the sky alsays looks like for me, and I imagine that it's much the same for anyone else..." Earthling/Venusian/Jovian/Tritonian/Plutoid: "...hold my beer!") 141.101.99.133 07:26, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

I've been saying this about the Sun… A great fireball looming in the sky. It remotely powers life. (Even with 90% of that power lost at each trophic level!) It is worshipped as a god. It controls Earthlings' sense of time. When it leaves the sky at a regular interval, a wave of fear follows, and everything seeks shelter and goes dormant until its return. Oh, but it also burns and mutates the flesh of those who stand in its rays, to the point that it's dangerous to look at. Sounds fake, right? And yet, there it is. ~AgentMuffin 08:00, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

I have a personal theory that the constant gravitational massage is responsible for sustaining the Earth's large magnetic field, thus preventing the solar wind making us like Venus or Mars, and probably keeping the tectonic plates on the move. (Oh and dogs domesticated themselves - just saying p.s. same for cats but only after we had barns). RIIW - Ponder it (talk) 09:38, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

I think we’re well past the point of “plans being made” of humans returning to the Moon. Silver (talk) 19:29, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

You mean that we are currently building rockets and stuff to send people to the moon at this very moment? R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 05:32, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

We are. Which I hope you're aware of. But if you weren't... this your lucky day! 172.71.242.15 10:11, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

Huh. I thought we were still only in the planning phase. Admittedly, paying attention to the news these days tends to be bad for one's mental health, all things considered. R3TRI8UTI0N (talk) 03:19, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

Space Launch System and Artemis 1 built and launched with further SLSs and Artemises(/Artemii?/Artemoxen?) being built for the followup missions. The bit of the mission with SpaceX Starship has been built/tested over variously incremental degrees, but is still far short of even Artemis's trans-lunar test as far as proving itself capable. But there is definitely more than just plans. (Though wouldn't be surprised if there are also contingency plans, if MusX gets too distracted and cannot actually deliver his element contribution. Like shuffling the Bezos version up the order, though that's also far (indeed, further) from usability right now.)

Artemis 2 doesn't depend upon anything additional (manufacturing aside) and so the trans-/circum-lunar manned mission is likely to happen (eventually) unless actively cancelled/reconfigured, for possibly political reasons (the current schedule of November 2024 is potentially between the election and inaugoration/continuation of the next/incumbant/returning US President, so any slipping NASA schedules and sudden changes in direction from 'above' are possibly going to interact), even with current equipment already partly in existence. Artemis 3's landing mission is far more hypothetical, right now, but predominantly for all the various non-NASA reasons (e.g. politics and, possibly, the fallout of any further Twitter/X 'developments' that have knock-on-effects that hinder/do not help SpaceX to solve its own entirely different problems). Assuming '2' itself isn't a practical(/fatal) failure in its own right, of course.

But this is just my own (broad) thinking about what pieces are in place or in the process of being placed. There are both professionals and supra-amateurs who keep a very close eye on all these things and might be far more informed about current progress. Yet I think I'm safe to roughly update you on the current "beyond planning" status of the Artemis programme, giving you various interesting advances and caveats that you were not aware of. ...watch this space? (Or space in general!) 172.71.242.15 10:14, 9 August 2023 (UTC)

August 1, 2023 the moon is a "Super Moon" KingPenguin (talk) 22:13, 1 August 2023 (UTC)

We need to make a category for these things which would sound outlandish if they didn't exist. 2115 is the first one I think of, and I'm sure there's more. I propose we call it Category: Things That Seem Like They Shouldn't Work But Do in honor of 2540. Take The A Train To Watertown (talk) 12:20, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

2085 title text. --Lupo (talk) 05:01, 3 August 2023 (UTC)

@84596Gamma - yes, really. (But not as much as a spoon.) 172.71.178.186 15:00, 2 August 2023 (UTC)

I'm kind of surprised no one has mentioned The Broken Earth Trilogy by N. K. Jemisin yet. Stickfigurefan (talk) 16:25, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

Science (and science fiction) writer Isaac Asimov once theorized that if we hasn't had the Moon then the heliocentric model of the solar system might have taken root a lot earlier than it did. It's pretty obvious that both the Sun and the Moon orbit around the Earth (I know...) so obviously everything else does too, right? But then we had to come up with ways to explain the movement of the planets, and a lot of very smart people wasted a lot of time trying to figure out exactly how that worked. Jkshapiro (talk) 16:49, 1 July 2024 (UTC)