Thursday 11 September 2008

The Moon Crescent in the Tropics, Sky Watch




 
 
 
 
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All over the world people have seen the moon in various shapes as a full moon, as a crescent moon. The difference is that in Australia, and other countries in the tropical zone, the crescent is lying like a ship or like a dome over the country, while we in the more northerly or southerly regions see the crescent standing vertically. See the bottom most picture and compare it to the photos we took in Australia. We were amazed to see the horizontal crescent.

How was the moon formed? There are many theories.

The prevailing hypothesis today is that the Earth–Moon system was formed as a result of a giant impact. A Mars-sized body (labelled "Theia") is believed to have hit the proto-Earth, blasting sufficient material into orbit around the proto-Earth to form the Moon through accretion. As accretion is the process by which all planetary bodies are believed to have formed, giant impacts are thought to have affected most if not all planets. Computer simulations modelling a giant impact are consistent with measurements of the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system, as well as the small size of the lunar core. Unresolved questions regarding this theory concern the determination of the relative sizes of the proto-Earth and Theia and of how much material from these two bodies formed the Moon.

Thanks to the Sky Watch team. For more photos click on the Sky Watch picture

36 comments:

Brad Myers said...

Good photos and a very informative post.

Woody said...

Nice Photos

Anonymous said...

Exceptional photography, Wil. I like them and assume these are more that you took on your recent trip.

My pictures are on my blog called Canon Pixels.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing the moon with us.

Juliana said...

love you moon ^_^

Please drop at my SWF post also: in HERE and HERE Thanks

Maria said...

Beautiful!

Anonymous said...

Very informative photos and great photos!~I posted mine too, HERE! Happy SWF!~

Anonymous said...

Love the moon shot! So cool.

EG CameraGirl said...

I had no idea the crescent moon looked different in the southern hemisphere. Now I have to figure out how I can drop that tidbit into conversation. (only kidding) But it really is interesting!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Wil: Very nice Moon capture for todays SWF.

Louise said...

Absolutely beautiful moon shots!

Tom said...

Hi Wil
MOON-tastic :o)

Julie said...

I did not realise that the moon took different shapes in different parts of the world. Thank you for showing this. I enjoyed reading it and thinking about it.

Pernille said...

I always love moon-shots! Yours are wonderful:)
Have a nice Sky Watch:)

Namnet said...

Interesting photos and post. Yesterday when I was going home late at night, I saw "our" moon above and it was the biggest moon I had ever seen. I was so sorry I didn´t have my camera by myself. You must have know it and took these photos for me:-) Thank you for sharing them and happy skywatching:-)

Gretchen said...

Beautiful shots!

DigitalShutterMania said...

Gorgeous photo : )

Anonymous said...

nice post. Happy SWF

Jane Hards Photography said...

Not only beautiful images, but very educational.

Your images in the side bar are jsut stunning.

Anonymous said...

1.A horizontal crescent ! I didn't know that at all !!
2. Ah, you are a book lover too.
3. Heel hartelijk dank voor de blog award, dat was een blije verrassing ! Hij prijkt in mijn linkerblogkolom, hoor. Warme groeten !

Mary said...

Very pretty. Good job!

DeniseinVA said...

Wonderful photos, and I have saved your commentary which I found very interesting.

Anonymous said...

love your post! great SWF entry!

Indrani said...

Truly beautiful shots! Nice info on the formation of moon too.

Elizabeth said...

Amazing night scenes.
Beautifully photgraphed.

Laura ~Peach~ said...

great pictures!

antigoni said...

Very nice photos.

vincibene said...

Magical picture!

Reader Wil said...

Thank you all for your kind words. The photos are not splendid, but as we all see the moon and watch its different shapes, I thought it would be nice to tell you that we( my daughter, son-in-law and I) were very surprised to see it like this. My Australian daughter was of course not surprised at all. I answered each of you on your blogs only rhoen I couldn't, because I cannot find a way to comment, but I like your blog rhoen!

Louis la Vache said...

Great job! "Louis" was trying to capture an image of the moon two nights ago and gave up - he just couldn't get the settings right...

Michele said...

I adore the moon, stars, the sky and this was especially nice to read and to soak in... very nice indeed!
~Michele J~
Mountain Retreat

nonizamboni said...

Always a wonder for me to watch the moon, think about its history and then to recall that south of the equator it faces the opposite. What an interesting post.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Hello again Reader Will. I too have read the Kite Runner - wonderful. Love your sky watch pictures! Nice to make contact -let's keep it up. You ask about my husband - he was what used to be called in U K a "boy soldier" and was sent to Shanghai with a military band in 1938 and was taken prisoner in Singapore shortly after the outbreak of war. But he - like you - was a survivor and put it behind him once he returned to UK and lived to be 66 - in good health until the year of his death.

lucy said...

Thank you for the information and the pictures. Great post!

Misty DawnS said...

Great shots! I love the night sky.

Janice Thomson said...

Lovely photos and great info Wil!