How People Celebrate Mid-Autumn Festival
As the second most important festival in China, Mid-Autumn Festival (Zhongqiu Jie) is celebrated in many traditional ways. Here are some of the most popular traditional celebrations.
Lunar geologic timescale
Millions of years before present
The lunar geological periods are named after their characteristic features, from most impact craters outside the dark mare, to the mare and later craters, and finally the young, still bright and therefore readily visible craters with ray systems like Copernicus or Tycho.
Isotope dating of lunar samples suggests the Moon formed around 50 million years after the origin of the Solar System.[36][37] Historically, several formation mechanisms have been proposed,[38] but none satisfactorily explains the features of the Earth–Moon system. A fission of the Moon from Earth's crust through centrifugal force[39] would require too great an initial rotation rate of Earth.[40] Gravitational capture of a pre-formed Moon[41] depends on an unfeasibly extended atmosphere of Earth to dissipate the energy of the passing Moon.[40] A co-formation of Earth and the Moon together in the primordial accretion disk does not explain the depletion of metals in the Moon.[40] None of these hypotheses can account for the high angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system.[42]
The prevailing theory is that the Earth–Moon system formed after a giant impact of a Mars-sized body (named Theia) with the proto-Earth. The oblique impact blasted material into orbit about the Earth and the material accreted and formed the Moon[43][44] just beyond the Earth's Roche limit of ~2.56 R🜨.[45]
Giant impacts are thought to have been common in the early Solar System. Computer simulations of giant impacts have produced results that are consistent with the mass of the lunar core and the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system. These simulations show that most of the Moon derived from the impactor, rather than the proto-Earth.[46] However, models from 2007 and later suggest a larger fraction of the Moon derived from the proto-Earth.[47][48][49][50] Other bodies of the inner Solar System such as Mars and Vesta have, according to meteorites from them, very different oxygen and tungsten isotopic compositions compared to Earth. However, Earth and the Moon have nearly identical isotopic compositions. The isotopic equalization of the Earth-Moon system might be explained by the post-impact mixing of the vaporized material that formed the two,[51] although this is debated.[52]
The impact would have released enough energy to liquefy both the ejecta and the Earth's crust, forming a magma ocean. The liquefied ejecta could have then re-accreted into the Earth–Moon system.[53][54] The newly formed Moon would have had its own magma ocean; its depth is estimated from about 500 km (300 miles) to 1,737 km (1,079 miles).[53]
While the giant-impact theory explains many lines of evidence, some questions are still unresolved, most of which involve the Moon's composition.[55] Models that have the Moon acquiring a significant amount of the proto-earth are more difficult to reconcile with geochemical data for the isotopes of zirconium, oxygen, silicon, and other elements.[56] A study published in 2022, using high-resolution simulations (up to 108 particles), found that giant impacts can immediately place a satellite with similar mass and iron content to the Moon into orbit far outside Earth's Roche limit. Even satellites that initially pass within the Roche limit can reliably and predictably survive, by being partially stripped and then torqued onto wider, stable orbits.[57]
On November 1, 2023, scientists reported that, according to computer simulations, remnants of Theia could still be present inside the Earth.[58][59]
The newly formed Moon settled into a much closer Earth orbit than it has today. Each body therefore appeared much larger in the sky of the other, eclipses were more frequent, and tidal effects were stronger.[60] Due to tidal acceleration, the Moon's orbit around Earth has become significantly larger, with a longer period.[61]
Following formation, the Moon has cooled and most of its atmosphere has been stripped.[62] The lunar surface has since been shaped by large impact events and many small ones, forming a landscape featuring craters of all ages.
The Moon was volcanically active until 1.2 billion years ago, which laid down the prominent lunar maria. Most of the mare basalts erupted during the Imbrian period, 3.3–3.7 billion years ago, though some are as young as 1.2 billion years[63] and some as old as 4.2 billion years.[64] There are differing explanations for the eruption of mare basalts, particularly their uneven occurrence which mainly appear on the near-side. Causes of the distribution of the lunar highlands on the far side are also not well understood. Topological measurements show the near side crust is thinner than the far side. One possible scenario then is that large impacts on the near side may have made it easier for lava to flow onto the surface.[65]
The Mid-Autumn Festival in America
The Mid-Autumn Festival is widely celebrated in the Asian American community. Asian Americans United (AAU) organizes a parade in Philadelphia around the Mid-Autumn Festival every year, including many activities, such as lion and dragon dancing, lantern decorations, Chinese operas, kung fu demonstrations, a mooncake-eating contest, and arts activities. This carnival attracts thousands of people who gather on the streets to participate in the activities.
In New York City, the Museum of Chinese in America holds mooncake-making sessions and drop-in arts and crafts to celebrate for an afternoon every year. In 2023, it will be free for everyone on September 30th. There will also be a full-moon-themed party with dance music and concerts on Saturday, September 23rd in Brooklyn.
Worshiping the Moon
According to the legend of Mid-Autumn Festival, a fairy maiden named Chang'e lives on the moon with a cute rabbit. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, people set a table under the moon with mooncakes, snacks, fruits, and a pair of candles lit on it. Some believe that by worshiping the moon, Chang'e (the moon goddess) may fulfill their wishes.
Physical characteristics
The Moon is a very slightly scalene ellipsoid due to tidal stretching, with its long axis displaced 30° from facing the Earth, due to gravitational anomalies from impact basins. Its shape is more elongated than current tidal forces can account for. This 'fossil bulge' indicates that the Moon solidified when it orbited at half its current distance to the Earth, and that it is now too cold for its shape to restore hydrostatic equilibrium at its current orbital distance.[66]
The Moon is by size and mass the fifth largest natural satellite of the Solar System, categorizable as one of its planetary-mass moons, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term.[17] It is smaller than Mercury and considerably larger than the largest dwarf planet of the Solar System, Pluto. While the minor-planet moon Charon of the Pluto-Charon system is larger relative to Pluto,[f][67] the Moon is the largest natural satellite of the Solar System relative to their primary planets.[g]
The Moon's diameter is about 3,500 km, more than a quarter of Earth's, with the face of the Moon comparable to the width of either Mainland Australia,[68] Europe or the Contiguous United States (which excludes Alaska, etc.).[69] The whole surface area of the Moon is about 38 million square kilometers, comparable to North and South America combined,[70] the combined American landmass having an area (excluding all islands) of 37.7 million square kilometers.[71]
The Moon's mass is 1/81 of Earth's,[72] being the second densest among the planetary moons, and having the second highest surface gravity, after Io, at 0.1654 g and an escape velocity of 2.38 km/s (8600 km/h; 5300 mph).
The Moon is a differentiated body that was initially in hydrostatic equilibrium but has since departed from this condition.[73] It has a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and core. The Moon has a solid iron-rich inner core with a radius possibly as small as 240 kilometres (150 mi) and a fluid outer core primarily made of liquid iron with a radius of roughly 300 kilometres (190 mi). Around the core is a partially molten boundary layer with a radius of about 500 kilometres (310 mi).[74][75] This structure is thought to have developed through the fractional crystallization of a global magma ocean shortly after the Moon's formation 4.5 billion years ago.[76]
Crystallization of this magma ocean would have created a mafic mantle from the precipitation and sinking of the minerals olivine, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene; after about three-quarters of the magma ocean had crystallized, lower-density plagioclase minerals could form and float into a crust atop.[77] The final liquids to crystallize would have been initially sandwiched between the crust and mantle, with a high abundance of incompatible and heat-producing elements.[1] Consistent with this perspective, geochemical mapping made from orbit suggests a crust of mostly anorthosite.[16] The Moon rock samples of the flood lavas that erupted onto the surface from partial melting in the mantle confirm the mafic mantle composition, which is more iron-rich than that of Earth.[1] The crust is on average about 50 kilometres (31 mi) thick.[1]
The Moon is the second-densest satellite in the Solar System, after Io.[78] However, the inner core of the Moon is small, with a radius of about 350 kilometres (220 mi) or less,[1] around 20% of the radius of the Moon. Its composition is not well understood, but is probably metallic iron alloyed with a small amount of sulfur and nickel; analyzes of the Moon's time-variable rotation suggest that it is at least partly molten.[79] The pressure at the lunar core is estimated to be 5 GPa (49,000 atm).[80]
On average the Moon's surface gravity is 1.62 m/s2[4] (0.1654 g; 5.318 ft/s2), about half of the surface gravity of Mars and about a sixth of Earth's.
The Moon's gravitational field is not uniform. The details of the gravitational field have been measured through tracking the Doppler shift of radio signals emitted by orbiting spacecraft. The main lunar gravity features are mascons, large positive gravitational anomalies associated with some of the giant impact basins, partly caused by the dense mare basaltic lava flows that fill those basins.[83][84] The anomalies greatly influence the orbit of spacecraft about the Moon. There are some puzzles: lava flows by themselves cannot explain all of the gravitational signature, and some mascons exist that are not linked to mare volcanism.[85]
The Moon has an external magnetic field of less than 0.2 nanoteslas,[86] or less than one hundred thousandth that of Earth. The Moon does not have a global dipolar magnetic field and only has crustal magnetization likely acquired early in its history when a dynamo was still operating.[87][88] Early in its history, 4 billion years ago, its magnetic field strength was likely close to that of Earth today.[86] This early dynamo field apparently expired by about one billion years ago, after the lunar core had crystallized.[86] Theoretically, some of the remnant magnetization may originate from transient magnetic fields generated during large impacts through the expansion of plasma clouds. These clouds are generated during large impacts in an ambient magnetic field. This is supported by the location of the largest crustal magnetizations situated near the antipodes of the giant impact basins.[89]
The Moon has an atmosphere so tenuous as to be nearly vacuum, with a total mass of less than 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons).[94] The surface pressure of this small mass is around 3 × 10−15 atm (0.3 nPa); it varies with the lunar day. Its sources include outgassing and sputtering, a product of the bombardment of lunar soil by solar wind ions.[16][95] Elements that have been detected include sodium and potassium, produced by sputtering (also found in the atmospheres of Mercury and Io); helium-4 and neon[96] from the solar wind; and argon-40, radon-222, and polonium-210, outgassed after their creation by radioactive decay within the crust and mantle.[97][98] The absence of such neutral species (atoms or molecules) as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and magnesium, which are present in the regolith, is not understood.[97] Water vapor has been detected by Chandrayaan-1 and found to vary with latitude, with a maximum at ~60–70 degrees; it is possibly generated from the sublimation of water ice in the regolith.[99] These gases either return into the regolith because of the Moon's gravity or are lost to space, either through solar radiation pressure or, if they are ionized, by being swept away by the solar wind's magnetic field.[97]
Studies of Moon magma samples retrieved by the Apollo missions demonstrate that the Moon had once possessed a relatively thick atmosphere for a period of 70 million years between 3 and 4 billion years ago. This atmosphere, sourced from gases ejected from lunar volcanic eruptions, was twice the thickness of that of present-day Mars. The ancient lunar atmosphere was eventually stripped away by solar winds and dissipated into space.[62]
A permanent Moon dust cloud exists around the Moon, generated by small particles from comets. Estimates are 5 tons of comet particles strike the Moon's surface every 24 hours, resulting in the ejection of dust particles. The dust stays above the Moon approximately 10 minutes, taking 5 minutes to rise, and 5 minutes to fall. On average, 120 kilograms of dust are present above the Moon, rising up to 100 kilometers above the surface. Dust counts made by LADEE's Lunar Dust EXperiment (LDEX) found particle counts peaked during the Geminid, Quadrantid, Northern Taurid, and Omicron Centaurid meteor showers, when the Earth, and Moon pass through comet debris. The lunar dust cloud is asymmetric, being more dense near the boundary between the Moon's dayside and nightside.[100][101]
Ionizing radiation from cosmic rays, the Sun and the resulting neutron radiation[103] produce radiation levels on average of 1.369 millisieverts per day during lunar daytime,[14] which is about 2.6 times more than on the International Space Station with 0.53 millisieverts per day at about 400 km above Earth in orbit, 5–10 times more than during a trans-Atlantic flight, 200 times more than on Earth's surface.[104] For further comparison radiation on a flight to Mars is about 1.84 millisieverts per day and on Mars on average 0.64 millisieverts per day, with some locations on Mars possibly having levels as low as 0.342 millisieverts per day.[105][106]
The Moon's axial tilt with respect to the ecliptic is only 1.5427°,[8][107] much less than the 23.44° of Earth. Because of this small tilt, the Moon's solar illumination varies much less with season than on Earth and it allows for the existence of some peaks of eternal light at the Moon's north pole, at the rim of the crater Peary.
The surface is exposed to drastic temperature differences ranging from 120 °C to −171 °C depending on the solar irradiance. Because of the lack of atmosphere, temperatures of different areas vary particularly upon whether they are in sunlight or shadow,[108] making topographical details play a decisive role on local surface temperatures.[109] Parts of many craters, particularly the bottoms of many polar craters,[110] are permanently shadowed, these "craters of eternal darkness" have extremely low temperatures. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter measured the lowest summer temperatures in craters at the southern pole at 35 K (−238 °C; −397 °F)[111] and just 26 K (−247 °C; −413 °F) close to the winter solstice in the north polar crater Hermite. This is the coldest temperature in the Solar System ever measured by a spacecraft, colder even than the surface of Pluto.[109]
Blanketed on top of the Moon's crust is a highly comminuted (broken into ever smaller particles) and impact gardened mostly gray surface layer called regolith, formed by impact processes. The finer regolith, the lunar soil of silicon dioxide glass, has a texture resembling snow and a scent resembling spent gunpowder.[112] The regolith of older surfaces is generally thicker than for younger surfaces: it varies in thickness from 10–15 m (33–49 ft) in the highlands and 4–5 m (13–16 ft) in the maria.[113] Beneath the finely comminuted regolith layer is the megaregolith, a layer of highly fractured bedrock many kilometers thick.[114]
These extreme conditions are considered to make it unlikely for spacecraft to harbor bacterial spores at the Moon for longer than just one lunar orbit.[115]
The topography of the Moon has been measured with laser altimetry and stereo image analysis.[116] Its most extensive topographic feature is the giant far-side South Pole–Aitken basin, some 2,240 km (1,390 mi) in diameter, the largest crater on the Moon and the second-largest confirmed impact crater in the Solar System.[117][118] At 13 km (8.1 mi) deep, its floor is the lowest point on the surface of the Moon.[117][119] The highest elevations of the Moon's surface are located directly to the northeast, which might have been thickened by the oblique formation impact of the South Pole–Aitken basin.[120] Other large impact basins such as Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Smythii, and Orientale possess regionally low elevations and elevated rims.[117] The far side of the lunar surface is on average about 1.9 km (1.2 mi) higher than that of the near side.[1]
The discovery of fault scarp cliffs suggest that the Moon has shrunk by about 90 metres (300 ft) within the past billion years.[121] Similar shrinkage features exist on Mercury. Mare Frigoris, a basin near the north pole long assumed to be geologically dead, has cracked and shifted. Since the Moon does not have tectonic plates, its tectonic activity is slow and cracks develop as it loses heat.[122]
Scientists have confirmed the presence of a cave on the Moon near the Sea of Tranquillity, not far from the 1969 Apollo 11 landing site. The cave, identified as an entry point to a collapsed lava tube, is roughly 45 meters wide and up to 80 m long. This discovery marks the first confirmed entry point to a lunar cave. The analysis was based on photos taken in 2010 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. The cave's stable temperature of around 17 °C could provide a hospitable environment for future astronauts, protecting them from extreme temperatures, solar radiation, and micrometeorites. However, challenges include accessibility and risks of avalanches and cave-ins. This discovery offers potential for future lunar bases or emergency shelters.[123]
The main features visible from Earth by the naked eye are dark and relatively featureless lunar plains called maria (singular mare; Latin for "seas", as they were once believed to be filled with water)[124] are vast solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. Although similar to terrestrial basalts, lunar basalts have more iron and no minerals altered by water.[125] The majority of these lava deposits erupted or flowed into the depressions associated with impact basins, though the Moon's largest expanse of basalt flooding, Oceanus Procellarum, does not correspond to an obvious impact basin. Different episodes of lava flows in maria can often be recognized by variations in surface albedo and distinct flow margins.[126]
As the maria formed, cooling and contraction of the basaltic lava created wrinkle ridges in some areas. These low, sinuous ridges can extend for hundreds of kilometers and often outline buried structures within the mare. Another result of maria formation is the creation of concentric depressions along the edges, known as arcuate rilles. These features occur as the mare basalts sink inward under their own weight, causing the edges to fracture and separate.
In addition to the visible maria, the Moon has mare deposits covered by ejecta from impacts. Called cryptomares, these hidden mares are likely older than the exposed ones.[127] Conversely, mare lava has obscured many impact melt sheets and pools. Impact melts are formed when intense shock pressures from collisions vaporize and melt zones around the impact site. Where still exposed, impact melt can be distinguished from mare lava by its distribution, albedo, and texture.[128]
Sinuous rilles, found in and around maria, are likely extinct lava channels or collapsed lava tubes. They typically originate from volcanic vents, meandering and sometimes branching as they progress. The largest examples, such as Schroter's Valley and Rima Hadley, are significantly longer, wider, and deeper than terrestrial lava channels, sometimes featuring bends and sharp turns that again, are uncommon on Earth.
Mare volcanism has altered impact craters in various ways, including filling them to varying degrees, and raising and fracturing their floors from uplift of mare material beneath their interiors. Examples of such craters include Taruntius and Gassendi. Some craters, such as Hyginus, are of wholly volcanic origin, forming as calderas or collapse pits. Such craters are relatively rare, and tend to be smaller (typically a few kilometers wide), shallower, and more irregularly shaped than impact craters. They also lack the upturned rims characteristic of impact craters.
Several geologic provinces containing shield volcanoes and volcanic domes are found within the near side maria.[129] There are also some regions of pyroclastic deposits, scoria cones and non-basaltic domes made of particularly high viscosity lava.
Almost all maria are on the near side of the Moon, and cover 31% of the surface of the near side[72] compared with 2% of the far side.[130] This is likely due to a concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side, which would have caused the underlying mantle to heat up, partially melt, rise to the surface and erupt.[77][131][132] Most of the Moon's mare basalts erupted during the Imbrian period, 3.3–3.7 billion years ago, though some being as young as 1.2 billion years[63] and as old as 4.2 billion years.[64]
In 2006, a study of Ina, a tiny depression in Lacus Felicitatis, found jagged, relatively dust-free features that, because of the lack of erosion by infalling debris, appeared to be only 2 million years old.[133] Moonquakes and releases of gas indicate continued lunar activity.[133] Evidence of recent lunar volcanism has been identified at 70 irregular mare patches, some less than 50 million years old. This raises the possibility of a much warmer lunar mantle than previously believed, at least on the near side where the deep crust is substantially warmer because of the greater concentration of radioactive elements.[134][135][136][137] Evidence has been found for 2–10 million years old basaltic volcanism within the crater Lowell,[138][139] inside the Orientale basin. Some combination of an initially hotter mantle and local enrichment of heat-producing elements in the mantle could be responsible for prolonged activities on the far side in the Orientale basin.[140][141]
The lighter-colored regions of the Moon are called terrae, or more commonly highlands, because they are higher than most maria. They have been radiometrically dated to having formed 4.4 billion years ago, and may represent plagioclase cumulates of the lunar magma ocean.[63][64] In contrast to Earth, no major lunar mountains are believed to have formed as a result of tectonic events.[142]
The concentration of maria on the near side likely reflects the substantially thicker crust of the highlands of the Far Side, which may have formed in a slow-velocity impact of a second moon of Earth a few tens of millions of years after the Moon's formation.[143][144] Alternatively, it may be a consequence of asymmetrical tidal heating when the Moon was much closer to the Earth.[145]
A major geologic process that has affected the Moon's surface is impact cratering,[146] with craters formed when asteroids and comets collide with the lunar surface. There are estimated to be roughly 300,000 craters wider than 1 km (0.6 mi) on the Moon's near side.[147] Lunar craters exhibit a variety of forms, depending on their size. In order of increasing diameter, the basic types are simple craters with smooth bowl shaped interiors and upturned rims, complex craters with flat floors, terraced walls and central peaks, peak ring basins, and multi-ring basins with two or more concentric rings of peaks.[148] The vast majority of impact craters are circular, but some, like Cantor and Janssen, have more polygonal outlines, possibly guided by underlying faults and joints. Others, such as the Messier pair, Schiller, and Daniell, are elongated. Such elongation can result from highly oblique impacts, binary asteroid impacts, fragmentation of impactors before surface strike, or closely spaced secondary impacts.[149]
The lunar geologic timescale is based on the most prominent impact events, such as multi-ring formations like Nectaris, Imbrium, and Orientale that are between hundreds and thousands of kilometers in diameter and associated with a broad apron of ejecta deposits that form a regional stratigraphic horizon.[150] The lack of an atmosphere, weather, and recent geological processes mean that many of these craters are well-preserved. Although only a few multi-ring basins have been definitively dated, they are useful for assigning relative ages. Because impact craters accumulate at a nearly constant rate, counting the number of craters per unit area can be used to estimate the age of the surface.[150] However care needs to be exercised with the crater counting technique due to the potential presence of secondary craters. Ejecta from impacts can create secondary craters that often appear in clusters or chains, but can also occur as isolated formations at a considerable distance from the impact. These can resemble primary craters, and may even dominate small crater populations, so their unidentified presence can distort age estimates.[151]
The radiometric ages of impact-melted rocks collected during the Apollo missions cluster between 3.8 and 4.1 billion years old: this has been used to propose a Late Heavy Bombardment period of increased impacts.[152]
High-resolution images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter in the 2010s show a contemporary crater-production rate significantly higher than was previously estimated. A secondary cratering process caused by distal ejecta is thought to churn the top two centimeters of regolith on a timescale of 81,000 years.[153][154] This rate is 100 times faster than the rate computed from models based solely on direct micrometeorite impacts.[155]
Lunar swirls are enigmatic features found across the Moon's surface. They are characterized by a high albedo, appear optically immature (i.e. the optical characteristics of a relatively young regolith), and often have a sinuous shape. Their shape is often accentuated by low albedo regions that wind between the bright swirls. They are located in places with enhanced surface magnetic fields and many are located at the antipodal point of major impacts. Well known swirls include the Reiner Gamma feature and Mare Ingenii. They are hypothesized to be areas that have been partially shielded from the solar wind, resulting in slower space weathering.[156]
Liquid water cannot persist on the lunar surface. When exposed to solar radiation, water quickly decomposes through a process known as photodissociation and is lost to space. However, since the 1960s, scientists have hypothesized that water ice may be deposited by impacting comets or possibly produced by the reaction of oxygen-rich lunar rocks, and hydrogen from solar wind, leaving traces of water which could possibly persist in cold, permanently shadowed craters at either pole on the Moon.[157][158] Computer simulations suggest that up to 14,000 km2 (5,400 sq mi) of the surface may be in permanent shadow.[110] The presence of usable quantities of water on the Moon is an important factor in rendering lunar habitation as a cost-effective plan; the alternative of transporting water from Earth would be prohibitively expensive.[159]
In years since, signatures of water have been found to exist on the lunar surface.[160] In 1994, the bistatic radar experiment located on the Clementine spacecraft, indicated the existence of small, frozen pockets of water close to the surface. However, later radar observations by Arecibo, suggest these findings may rather be rocks ejected from young impact craters.[161] In 1998, the neutron spectrometer on the Lunar Prospector spacecraft showed that high concentrations of hydrogen are present in the first meter of depth in the regolith near the polar regions.[162] Volcanic lava beads, brought back to Earth aboard Apollo 15, showed small amounts of water in their interior.[163]
The 2008 Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft has since confirmed the existence of surface water ice, using the on-board Moon Mineralogy Mapper. The spectrometer observed absorption lines common to hydroxyl, in reflected sunlight, providing evidence of large quantities of water ice, on the lunar surface. The spacecraft showed that concentrations may possibly be as high as 1,000 ppm.[164] Using the mapper's reflectance spectra, indirect lighting of areas in shadow confirmed water ice within 20° latitude of both poles in 2018.[165] In 2009, LCROSS sent a 2,300 kg (5,100 lb) impactor into a permanently shadowed polar crater, and detected at least 100 kg (220 lb) of water in a plume of ejected material.[166][167] Another examination of the LCROSS data showed the amount of detected water to be closer to 155 ± 12 kg (342 ± 26 lb).[168]
In May 2011, 615–1410 ppm water in melt inclusions in lunar sample 74220 was reported,[169] the famous high-titanium "orange glass soil" of volcanic origin collected during the Apollo 17 mission in 1972. The inclusions were formed during explosive eruptions on the Moon approximately 3.7 billion years ago. This concentration is comparable with that of magma in Earth's upper mantle. Although of considerable selenological interest, this insight does not mean that water is easily available since the sample originated many kilometers below the surface, and the inclusions are so difficult to access that it took 39 years to find them with a state-of-the-art ion microprobe instrument.
Analysis of the findings of the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) revealed in August 2018 for the first time "definitive evidence" for water-ice on the lunar surface.[170][171] The data revealed the distinct reflective signatures of water-ice, as opposed to dust and other reflective substances.[172] The ice deposits were found on the North and South poles, although it is more abundant in the South, where water is trapped in permanently shadowed craters and crevices, allowing it to persist as ice on the surface since they are shielded from the sun.[170][172]
In October 2020, astronomers reported detecting molecular water on the sunlit surface of the Moon by several independent spacecraft, including the Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA).[173][174][175][176]
The Earth and the Moon form the Earth-Moon satellite system with a shared center of mass, or barycenter. This barycenter is 1,700 km (1,100 mi) (about a quarter of Earth's radius) beneath the Earth's surface.
The Moon's orbit is slightly elliptical, with an orbital eccentricity of 0.055.[1] The semi-major axis of the geocentric lunar orbit, called the lunar distance, is approximately 400,000 km (250,000 miles or 1.28 light-seconds), comparable to going around Earth 9.5 times.[177]
The Moon makes a complete orbit around Earth with respect to the fixed stars, its sidereal period, about once every 27.3 days.[h] However, because the Earth-Moon system moves at the same time in its orbit around the Sun, it takes slightly longer, 29.5 days,[i][72] to return at the same lunar phase, completing a full cycle, as seen from Earth. This synodic period or synodic month is commonly known as the lunar month and is equal to the length of the solar day on the Moon.[178]
Due to tidal locking, the Moon has a 1:1 spin–orbit resonance. This rotation–orbit ratio makes the Moon's orbital periods around Earth equal to its corresponding rotation periods. This is the reason for only one side of the Moon, its so-called near side, being visible from Earth. That said, while the movement of the Moon is in resonance, it still is not without nuances such as libration, resulting in slightly changing perspectives, making over time and location on Earth about 59% of the Moon's surface visible from Earth.[179]
Unlike most satellites of other planets, the Moon's orbital plane is closer to the ecliptic plane than to the planet's equatorial plane. The Moon's orbit is subtly perturbed by the Sun and Earth in many small, complex and interacting ways. For example, the plane of the Moon's orbit gradually rotates once every 18.61 years,[180] which affects other aspects of lunar motion. These follow-on effects are mathematically described by Cassini's laws.[181]
The gravitational attraction that Earth and the Moon (as well as the Sun) exert on each other manifests in a slightly greater attraction on the sides closest to each other, resulting in tidal forces. Ocean tides are the most widely experienced result of this, but tidal forces also considerably affect other mechanics of Earth, as well as the Moon and their system.
The lunar solid crust experiences tides of around 10 cm (4 in) amplitude over 27 days, with three components: a fixed one due to Earth, because they are in synchronous rotation, a variable tide due to orbital eccentricity and inclination, and a small varying component from the Sun.[182] The Earth-induced variable component arises from changing distance and libration, a result of the Moon's orbital eccentricity and inclination (if the Moon's orbit were perfectly circular and un-inclined, there would only be solar tides).[182] According to recent research, scientists suggest that the Moon's influence on the Earth may contribute to maintaining Earth's magnetic field.[183]
The cumulative effects of stress built up by these tidal forces produces moonquakes. Moonquakes are much less common and weaker than are earthquakes, although moonquakes can last for up to an hour – significantly longer than terrestrial quakes – because of scattering of the seismic vibrations in the dry fragmented upper crust. The existence of moonquakes was an unexpected discovery from seismometers placed on the Moon by Apollo astronauts from 1969 through 1972.[184]
The most commonly known effect of tidal forces are elevated sea levels called ocean tides.[185] While the Moon exerts most of the tidal forces, the Sun also exerts tidal forces and therefore contributes to the tides as much as 40% of the Moon's tidal force; producing in interplay the spring and neap tides.[185]
The tides are two bulges in the Earth's oceans, one on the side facing the Moon and the other on the side opposite. As the Earth rotates on its axis, one of the ocean bulges (high tide) is held in place "under" the Moon, while another such tide is opposite. The tide under the Moon is explained by the Moon's gravity being stronger on the water close to it. The tide on the opposite side can be explained either by the centrifugal force as the Earth orbits the barycenter or by the water's inertia as the Moon's gravity is stronger on the solid Earth close to it and it is pull away from the farther water.[186]
Thus, there are two high tides, and two low tides in about 24 hours.[185] Since the Moon is orbiting the Earth in the same direction of the Earth's rotation, the high tides occur about every 12 hours and 25 minutes; the 25 minutes is due to the Moon's time to orbit the Earth.
If the Earth were a water world (one with no continents) it would produce a tide of only one meter, and that tide would be very predictable, but the ocean tides are greatly modified by other effects:
As a result, the timing of the tides at most points on the Earth is a product of observations that are explained, incidentally, by theory.
Delays in the tidal peaks of both ocean and solid-body tides cause torque in opposition to the Earth's rotation. This "drains" angular momentum and rotational kinetic energy from Earth's rotation, slowing the Earth's rotation.[185][182] That angular momentum, lost from the Earth, is transferred to the Moon in a process known as tidal acceleration, which lifts the Moon into a higher orbit while lowering orbital speed around the Earth.
Thus the distance between Earth and Moon is increasing, and the Earth's rotation is slowing in reaction.[182] Measurements from laser reflectors left during the Apollo missions (lunar ranging experiments) have found that the Moon's distance increases by 38 mm (1.5 in) per year (roughly the rate at which human fingernails grow).[188][189][190] Atomic clocks show that Earth's day lengthens by about 17 microseconds every year,[191][192][193] slowly increasing the rate at which UTC is adjusted by leap seconds.
This tidal drag makes the rotation of the Earth and the orbital period of the Moon very slowly match. This matching first results in tidally locking the lighter body of the orbital system, as is already the case with the Moon. Theoretically, in 50 billion years,[194] the Earth's rotation will have slowed to the point of matching the Moon's orbital period, causing the Earth to always present the same side to the Moon. However, the Sun will become a red giant, most likely engulfing the Earth-Moon system long before then.[195][196]
If the Earth-Moon system isn't engulfed by the enlarged Sun, the drag from the solar atmosphere can cause the orbit of the Moon to decay. Once the orbit of the Moon closes to a distance of 18,470 km (11,480 mi), it will cross Earth's Roche limit, meaning that tidal interaction with Earth would break apart the Moon, turning it into a ring system. Most of the orbiting rings will begin to decay, and the debris will impact Earth. Hence, even if the Sun does not swallow up Earth, the planet may be left moonless.[197]
Enjoying a Dinner with Family
The roundness of the moon represents the reunion of the family in Chinese minds. Families will have dinner together on the evening of Mid-Autumn Festival.
The public holiday (usually 3 days) is mainly for Chinese people working in different places to have enough time to reunite. Those staying too far away from their parents' home usually get together with friends.
Mooncakes are the must-eat Mid-Autumn food in China. They are a traditional Chinese pastry. Their round shape and sweet flavor symbolize completeness and sweetness.
At the Mid-Autumn Festival, people eat mooncakes together with family, or present mooncakes to relatives or friends, to express their love and best wishes. Mooncakes are usually eaten after dinner while admiring the moon.
Other Mid-Autumn Festival Food:
Celebrating the harvest is one of the most traditional meanings of Mid-Autumn Festival, thus harvest foods are favored during the festive period, such as crabs, pumpkins, pomelos, and grapes. People enjoy them at their freshest, most nutritious time, and enjoy their auspicious meanings that are particularly associated with round foods.
Click to know Mooncakes — Symbols, Flavors, Regional Varieties, and How to Eat Mooncakes.
Renewed exploration (1990–present)
In 1990 Hiten-Hagoromo,[254] the first dedicated lunar mission since 1976, reached the Moon. Sent by Japan, it became the first mission that was not a Soviet Union or U.S. mission to the Moon.
In 1994, the U.S. dedicated a mission to fly a spacecraft (Clementine) to the Moon again for the first time since 1973. This mission obtained the first near-global topographic map of the Moon, and the first global multispectral images of the lunar surface.[255] In 1998, this was followed by the Lunar Prospector mission, whose instruments indicated the presence of excess hydrogen at the lunar poles, which is likely to have been caused by the presence of water ice in the upper few meters of the regolith within permanently shadowed craters.[256]
The next years saw a row of first missions to the Moon by a new group of states actively exploring the Moon. Between 2004 and 2006 the first spacecraft by the European Space Agency (ESA) (SMART-1) reached the Moon, recording the first detailed survey of chemical elements on the lunar surface.[257] The Chinese Lunar Exploration Program reached the Moon for the first time with the orbiter Chang'e 1 (2007–2009),[258] obtaining a full image map of the Moon. India reached, orbited and impacted the Moon in 2008 for the first time with its Chandrayaan-1 and Moon Impact Probe, becoming the fifth and sixth state to do so, creating a high-resolution chemical, mineralogical and photo-geological map of the lunar surface, and confirming the presence of water molecules in lunar soil.[259]
The U.S. launched the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) and the LCROSS impactor on June 18, 2009. LCROSS completed its mission by making a planned and widely observed impact in the crater Cabeus on October 9, 2009,[260] whereas LRO is currently in operation, obtaining precise lunar altimetry and high-resolution imagery.
China continued its lunar program in 2010 with Chang'e 2, mapping the surface at a higher resolution over an eight-month period, and in 2013 with Chang'e 3, a lunar lander along with a lunar rover named Yutu (Chinese: 玉兔; lit. 'Jade Rabbit'). This was the first lunar rover mission since Lunokhod 2 in 1973 and the first lunar soft landing since Luna 24 in 1976, making China the third country to achieve this.
In 2014 the first privately funded probe, the Manfred Memorial Moon Mission, reached the Moon.
Another Chinese rover mission, Chang'e 4, achieved the first landing on the Moon's far side in early 2019.[261]
Also in 2019, India successfully sent its second probe, Chandrayaan-2 to the Moon.
In 2020, China carried out its first robotic sample return mission (Chang'e 5), bringing back 1,731 grams of lunar material to Earth.[262]
The U.S. developed plans for returning to the Moon beginning in 2004,[263] and with the signing of the U.S.-led Artemis Accords in 2020, the Artemis program aims to return the astronauts to the Moon in the 2020s.[264] The Accords have been joined by a growing number of countries. The introduction of the Artemis Accords has fueled a renewed discussion about the international framework and cooperation of lunar activity, building on the Moon Treaty and the ESA-led Moon Village concept.[265][266][267]
2023 and 2024 India and Japan became the fourth and fifth country to soft land a spacecraft on the Moon, following the Soviet Union and United States in the 1960s, and China in the 2010s.[268] Notably, Japan's spacecraft, the Smart Lander for Investigating Moon, survived 3 lunar nights.[269] The IM-1 lander became the first commercially built lander to land on the Moon in 2024.[270]
China launched the Chang'e 6 on May 3, 2024, which conducted another lunar sample return from the far side of the Moon.[271] It also carried a Chinese rover to conduct infrared spectroscopy of lunar surface.[272] Pakistan sent a lunar orbiter called ICUBE-Q along with Chang'e 6.[273]
Nova-C 2, iSpace Lander and Blue Ghost are all planned to launch to the Moon in 2024.
Beside the progressing Artemis program and supporting Commercial Lunar Payload Services, leading an international and commercial crewed opening up of the Moon and sending the first woman, person of color and non-US citizen to the Moon in the 2020s,[274] China is continuing its ambitious Chang'e program, having announced with Russia's struggling Luna-Glob program joint missions.[275][276] Both the Chinese and US lunar programs have the goal to establish in the 2030s a lunar base with their international partners, though the US and its partners will first establish an orbital Lunar Gateway station in the 2020s, from which Artemis missions will land the Human Landing System to set up temporary surface camps.
While the Apollo missions were explorational in nature, the Artemis program plans to establish a more permanent presence. To this end, NASA is partnering with industry leaders to establish key elements such as modern communication infrastructure. A 4G connectivity demonstration is to be launched aboard an Intuitive Machines Nova-C lander in 2024.[277] Another focus is on in situ resource utilization, which is a key part of the DARPA lunar programs. DARPA has requested that industry partners develop a 10–year lunar architecture plan to enable the beginning of a lunar economy.[278]
In 1959 the first extraterrestrial probes reached the Moon (Luna program), just a year into the space age, after the first ever orbital flight. Since then humans have sent a range of probes and people to the Moon. The first stay of people on the Moon was conducted in 1969, in a series of crewed exploration missions (the Apollo Program), the last having taken place in 1972.
Uninterrupted presence has been the case through the remains of impactors, landings and lunar orbiters. Some landings and orbiters have maintained a small lunar infrastructure, providing continuous observation and communication at the Moon.
Increasing human activity in cislunar space as well as on the Moon's surface, particularly missions at the far side of the Moon or the lunar north and south polar regions, are in need for a lunar infrastructure. For that purpose orbiters in orbits around the Moon or the Earth–Moon Lagrange points, have since 2006 been operated. With highly eccentric orbits providing continuous communication, as with the orbit of Queqiao and Queqiao-2 relay satellite or the planned first extraterrestrial space station, the Lunar Gateway.[279][280]
While the Moon has the lowest planetary protection target-categorization, its degradation as a pristine body and scientific place has been discussed.[282] If there is astronomy performed from the Moon, it will need to be free from any physical and radio pollution. While the Moon has no significant atmosphere, traffic and impacts on the Moon causes clouds of dust that can spread far and possibly contaminate the original state of the Moon and its special scientific content.[283] Scholar Alice Gorman asserts that, although the Moon is inhospitable, it is not dead, and that sustainable human activity would require treating the Moon's ecology as a co-participant.[284]
The so-called "Tardigrade affair" of the 2019 crashed Beresheet lander and its carrying of tardigrades has been discussed as an example for lacking measures and lacking international regulation for planetary protection.[285]
Space debris beyond Earth around the Moon has been considered as a future challenge with increasing numbers of missions to the Moon, particularly as a danger for such missions.[286][287] As such lunar waste management has been raised as an issue which future lunar missions, particularly on the surface, need to tackle.[288][289]
Human remains have been transported to the Moon, including by private companies such as Celestis and Elysium Space. Because the Moon has been sacred or significant to many cultures, the practice of space burials have attracted criticism from indigenous peoples leaders. For example, then–Navajo Nation president Albert Hale criticized NASA for sending the cremated ashes of scientist Eugene Shoemaker to the Moon in 1998.[290][291]
Beside the remains of human activity on the Moon, there have been some intended permanent installations like the Moon Museum art piece, Apollo 11 goodwill messages, six lunar plaques, the Fallen Astronaut memorial, and other artifacts.[281]
Longterm missions continuing to be active are some orbiters such as the 2009-launched Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter surveilling the Moon for future missions, as well as some Landers such as the 2013-launched Chang'e 3 with its Lunar Ultraviolet Telescope still operational.[292] Five retroreflectors have been installed on the Moon since the 1970s and since used for accurate measurements of the physical librations through laser ranging to the Moon.
There are several missions by different agencies and companies planned to establish a longterm human presence on the Moon, with the Lunar Gateway as the currently most advanced project as part of the Artemis program.
Mid-Autumn Festival Stories
There are many legends about Mid-Autumn Festival. The most popular stories are about Chang'e and the Jade Rabbit.
Want to share the Mid-Autumn Festival story with your family? The 3-minute video below will show you all about it.
The origin of the Mid-Autumn Festival is associated with the popular legend of Chang'e (嫦娥), the goddess of the moon, and Hou Yi, the husband of Chang'e. He was rewarded with an elixir of immortality by the Queen Mother when he shot down nine of the ten suns and saved people from their smoldering heat. In Chinese folklore, he did not drink it straight away because he did not want to gain immortality without his wife. So, he asked Chang'e to keep it safe for him.
Unexpectedly one mid-autumn day, while Houyi was out hunting, an evil person tried to force Chang'e to hand over the elixir. Chang'e swallowed the elixir however and flew higher and higher. She then chose the moon as her immortal abode, to be close to her beloved husband and look down on him on Earth. Hou Yi was very sad and made sacrifices to Chang'e with incense, cakes, and fruits.
Legend has it that there is a rabbit companion with Chang'e on the moon, white as jade, so it is called 'jade rabbit'. As time passed, the jade rabbit became synonymous with the moon in Chinese culture.
The custom of worshiping the moon on Mid-Autumn day has been passed down from generation to generation.
Astronomy from the Moon
The Moon has been used as a site for astronomical and Earth observations. The Earth appears in the Moon's sky with an apparent size of 1° 48′ to 2°,[293] three to four times the size of the Moon or Sun in Earth's sky, or about the apparent width of two little fingers at an arm's length away. Observations from the Moon started as early as 1966 with the first images of Earth from the Moon, taken by Lunar Orbiter 1. Of particular cultural significance is the 1968 photograph called Earthrise, taken by Bill Anders of Apollo 8 in 1968. In April 1972 the Apollo 16 mission set up the first dedicated telescope,[294][295] the Far Ultraviolet Camera/Spectrograph, recording various astronomical photos and spectra.[296]
The Moon is recognized as an excellent site for telescopes.[297] It is relatively nearby; certain craters near the poles are permanently dark and cold and especially useful for infrared telescopes; and radio telescopes on the far side would be shielded from the radio chatter of Earth.[298] The lunar soil, although it poses a problem for any moving parts of telescopes, can be mixed with carbon nanotubes and epoxies and employed in the construction of mirrors up to 50 meters in diameter.[299] A lunar zenith telescope can be made cheaply with an ionic liquid.[300]
The only instances of humans living on the Moon have taken place in an Apollo Lunar Module for several days at a time (for example, during the Apollo 17 mission).[301] One challenge to astronauts during their stay on the surface is that lunar dust sticks to their suits and is carried into their quarters. Astronauts could taste and smell the dust, which smells like gunpowder and was called the "Apollo aroma".[302] This fine lunar dust can cause health issues.[302]
In 2019, at least one plant seed sprouted in an experiment on the Chang'e 4 lander. It was carried from Earth along with other small life in its Lunar Micro Ecosystem.[303]
Although Luna landers scattered pennants of the Soviet Union on the Moon, and U.S. flags were symbolically planted at their landing sites by the Apollo astronauts, no nation claims ownership of any part of the Moon's surface.[304] Likewise no private ownership of parts of the Moon, or as a whole, is considered credible.[305][306][307]
The 1967 Outer Space Treaty defines the Moon and all outer space as the "province of all mankind".[304] It restricts the use of the Moon to peaceful purposes, explicitly banning military installations and weapons of mass destruction.[308] A majority of countries are parties of this treaty.[309] The 1979 Moon Agreement was created to elaborate, and restrict the exploitation of the Moon's resources by any single nation, leaving it to a yet unspecified international regulatory regime.[310] As of January 2020, it has been signed and ratified by 18 nations,[311] none of which have human spaceflight capabilities.
Since 2020, countries have joined the U.S. in their Artemis Accords, which are challenging the treaty. The U.S. has furthermore emphasized in a presidential executive order ("Encouraging International Support for the Recovery and Use of Space Resources.") that "the United States does not view outer space as a 'global commons'" and calls the Moon Agreement "a failed attempt at constraining free enterprise."[312][313]
With Australia signing and ratifying both the Moon Treaty in 1986 as well as the Artemis Accords in 2020, there has been a discussion if they can be harmonized.[266] In this light an Implementation Agreement for the Moon Treaty has been advocated for, as a way to compensate for the shortcomings of the Moon Treaty and to harmonize it with other laws and agreements such as the Artemis Accords, allowing it to be more widely accepted.[265][267]
In the face of such increasing commercial and national interest, particularly prospecting territories, U.S. lawmakers have introduced in late 2020 specific regulation for the conservation of historic landing sites[314] and interest groups have argued for making such sites World Heritage Sites[315] and zones of scientific value protected zones, all of which add to the legal availability and territorialization of the Moon.[285]
In 2021, the Declaration of the Rights of the Moon[316] was created by a group of "lawyers, space archaeologists and concerned citizens", drawing on precedents in the Rights of Nature movement and the concept of legal personality for non-human entities in space.[317][318]
Why Mid-Autumn Festival is Celebrated?
The Mid-Autumn Festival has a history of over 3,000 years. It was a royal sacrificial ceremony associated with moon worshiping and agricultural activities. People worshiped the moon to give thanks for the harvest and to encourage the "harvest-giving light" to return in the coming year. The changes in the lunar phases provided guidance for the farming schedule; therefore, people believed that worshiping the moon could bring a good harvest.
In modern times, most people have sufficient food supplies, but the Mid-Autumn Festival is still significant because the full moon during the festival is a symbol of family reunions. As the festival evolved over time, it has gained additional meanings and now includes prayers for good health and happiness.
You might want to read more on Mid-Autumn Festival Origins or 10 Interesting Mid-Autumn Facts.
