What are the “Moon’s Craters”?

27 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

 Craters

            The moon has craters.  These “surface irregularities” form the rough surface that gives the face of the moon . . . its “character.”  I suppose, if wrinkles give a face character, craters can give the moon’s face character.  And, in fact, the craters do just that.  The face of the “Man in the Moon,” so popular throughout the centuries, is nothing more than a shape “seen” by viewers, which is formed by the irregularities in the surface of the moon.

            In 1609, Galileo built his first telescope, turned it towards the moon and discovered craters.  Meteors, giant rocks hurling through space, were always suspected to be the cause of the craters.  Meteors have and continue to strike the moon regularly.  But, through the centuries, some believed that volcanic eruptions caused craters.  For a period of about 50 years, some believed that the moon’s surface was covered with ice, and glacial activity caused craters.  Then, the Apollo missions gathered data that pretty much confirmed that craters were caused by meteor strikes.  

 Large Crater

            And the moon still gets struck pretty hard.  The largest recorded strike on the moon happened on 17 March 2013.  The impact and plume of dust from the impact was visible to the naked eye -- if you happened to be moon-watching at the time. 

            The earth has craters too.  But the earth doesn’t get hit by too many meteors because this planet is protected by its atmosphere.  When meteors enter the gaseous atmosphere of earth, they experience friction, which creates so much heat that the meteors not only burn, but usually burn-up completely before reaching the ground. 

            It takes a monster of a meteor to reach the surface and make a noticeable crater on earth.  Any relief map of the state will show Arizona’s Meteor Crater.  Meteors had hit before, but this wasn’t your average meteor.  This easily visible monster of a crater (a bit under a mile wide) was made by a 160 foot-wide piece of space rock hitting the earth.

 Arizona's Meteor Crater

         Even when a rare meteor makes it to the earth’s surface, it’s usually so small that it hardly leaves a mark at all.  Few small craters “last” on the surface of the earth.  Rain, snow, and weather gradually cause these blemishes to fade away.

            But things are different on the moon.  There is no atmosphere of any kind to protect it from constant blows.  So, without any friction, space debris crashes into the surface of the moon at full speed.  Some of these impacts are from meteors speeding through space on a collision course with the moon.  Other objects and debris are attracted by the moon’s own gravity with the satillite drawing these blows down onto itself. 

            The complete lack of atmosphere has another effect.  The oldest craters on the moon are about 2 billion years old.  And, in those two billion years, they haven’t changed a bit.  There really is no weathering or erosion on the lunar surface.  The craters from most impacts are preserved intact.

                And, we don't want to forget the history of “moon crater naming.”  Giovannie Battista Riccioli named the first crater in 1651 and began a tradition of crater naming that became so widespread that the International Astronomical Union took over the regulation and recording of crater names in 1919. 

            There is a crater named “Apollo” after the Apollo missions.  Inside Apollo are some smaller craters appropriately named after “absent” American astronauts.  Aside from craters, the moon also has some vast plains with names beginning with the word “Mare” meaning “sea.”  The Mare Moscoviense, for example, is dotted with a few craters named after “absent” Soviet cosmonauts. 

            Craters are sometimes named in clusters with the name of one big crater given to the smaller craters surrounding it.  For example, the crater Copernicus, is surround by smaller craters named Copernicus A, Copernicus B, etc.  Chains of craters have names beginning with the word, “Catena,” Latin for chain, such as Catena Davy.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

 

What is a “Moon Flower”?

24 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            I plant a garden every year and grow morning glories from seed every year.  Last year, I found the seed section of my local hardware store “picked-over.”  Unable to find my usual morning glories, I finally saw a pack of seed at the very bottom of the rack.  I reached down and picked up a pack without a thought.

            But I was in for a surprise.  The picture on the package - that looked like a morning glory - wasn’t.  To my surprise, I found myself buying a pack of moon flower seeds.  Instead of the morning, was I going to get the “glories of the night”?!

            My mistake was a natural one.  Known to their friends by their comfortable name, “moon flowers,” they are formally called Ipomoea alba.   These beautiful flowering vines were originally native to Mexico and Argentina.

            Why moon flower?

            Because this variety of what is, admittedly, called Morning Glory doesn’t bloom in the morning.  Instead, the moon flower blooms in the dark of night.  And, incidentally, these white, round flowers resemble a full moon.

 The Moon Flower

            When I read the pack, I quickly realized that moon flowers would be a welcome addition to my garden.  Far from some vampiric hybrid with a dangerous nature, the moon flower is a morning glory that blooms really, really early in the morning.  Well, actually, they bloom long before it’s morning -- appearing after sundown and remaining until touched by the first rays of the rising sun.  (Although, on overcast days, they can last into the daylight hours.) 

            The flowers can be 3 to 6 inches wide and do for the evening what the traditional morning glory does for the early morning hours -- create a striking visual display of blossoms.  Now, thinking of the heat of the summer, I’m looking for an all-day-long glory, but have yet to find one.   

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

 

What is the “Film: Dark Side of the Moon”?

20 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            “Dark Side of the Moon” is a documentary . . . or at least it was originally intended to be.  Instead, the filmmakers produced a “mockumentary.” 

            What’s a mockumentary?  It is a film or television show parody of a documentary.  The documentary style is maintained throughout the film, but fiction is substituted for fact with a humorous intention.

            Director William Karel set out to produce a documentary on what was thought to be a mystery. 

            On July 21, 1969, Apollo 11 reached the moon and entered lunar orbit.  Two astronauts descended to the surface of the moon landing in the Sea of Tranquility.   Six hours later, Neil Armstrong stepped out of Lunar Module and took the first steps on the moon.  But . . .

            A small but determined group of people assert that no manned mission has ever reached the Moon.  The U.S., it is claimed, faked the 1969 Moon landing something like the events presented in a fictional novel and film, Capricorn One, in which NASA claims to have launched astronauts on a mission to Mars.  In fact (or, rather, in fiction), the “astronauts” remain right here on Earth where they work on a sound-stage participating in the filming of a fake landing on the red planet.

Capricorn One — Wikipedia           

          

            But before the age of computer generated special effects, who could have filmed a simulation so good that it would fool tens of millions of viewers.  Conveniently, at the time of the moon landing, director Stanley Kubrick had just completed his film, 2001: A Space Odyssey.  It is said that he consulted with NASA during the production to get the special effects just right. 

            And what was the director trying to simulate?  Scenes of astronauts walking on the surface of the moon.  Using his signature special effect technique, front-screen projection, Kubrick’s simulations were impressive.  More than rumored, it was asserted by theorists that Kubrick had done the impossible -- filmed and directed the greatest hoax in history.

 Scene from 2001 -- Astronauts on Lunar Surface

            But when Karel began the project, the theory of Kubrick’s involvement in the filming of a fake moon landing quickly unraveled.   When you’re a director in the midst project investigating a mystery that turns out . . . not to be a mystery, what do you do?  Well, you don’t lose your sense of humor.  And Karel didn’t.

            He decided to film a fake documentary about the filming of a fake moon landing.  His “mockumentary,” Dark Side of the Moon, boasts an impressive cast including Buzz Aldrin, Christiane Kubrick, Henry Kissinger, Donald Rumsfeld, Vernon Walters, all of whom agreed to play themselves and, in scripted interviews, pretend that Kubrick really had filmed a fake moon landing.  The film is spiced from beginning to end with gross historical inaccuracies and miscast characters that tip the watcher off that what they're seeing isn’t true.

            If you’re wondering what the film is like.  You can watch it on YouTube.  

 Dark Side of the Moon: Stanley Kubrick and the Fake Moon Landings

(full film)

 Or . . . this is the link:

Dark Side of the Moon: Stanley Kubrick and the Fake Moon Landings

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

What is “Moon Hill”?

18 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

 Moon Hill

            Located South of Yangshuo and across the Jingbao River in China’s Guangxi autonomous region, “Moon Hill” was named for a spectacular circular passage, or natural arch, cutting through the stone of a natural hill.  

 Moon Hill

            The arch itself is about 55 yards high.  The bottom of the arch can be reached by footpath and is a major tourist attraction.  Still, the bottom of the arch is located at an elevation of about 750 feet with the summit, the top of the mountain arch, reaching a height of 1,250 feet.  For the amateur climber, the top of hill is a bit of a climb but is, still, quite popular because of the view from the summit. 

                                                        View from the Top of Moon Hill

            The geography of the whole area was formed by water seeping through rock.  In prehistoric times, caves formed.  But, with more time and more seeping water, even the caves dissolved away leaving only a few hills.  One of the hills, Moon Hill, retains the circular passage of what was once a full cave.  

Moon Hill

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

What is the “Dark Side of the Moon”?

13 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            Today, the “dark side of the moon” refers to the side of the moon that happens to be dark at any particular moment. 

            As the earth rotates, we experience night and day.  At any one moment, the part of the earth that is in darkness could be called the “dark side of the earth.”  Of course, the side of the earth that’s dark changes minute to minute and second to second repeating the whole cycle of light and dark every 24 hours. 

            The moon has its own “day and night.”  Watching from earth, a lunar day lasts a bit over 29 days.  And, like earth, at any one moment, half of the moon is in darkness.  That dark half is the “dark side of the moon.”

            So, at the full moon, you can see the whole light side of the moon.  And, at the new moon, when it seems that there’s no moon visible in sky, you are looking at the whole dark side of the moon.

            But there’s a twist to the history of the phrase “dark side of the moon.” Until 1959, the term “dark side of the moon” referred a side of the moon that no one had ever seen.

The Side of the Moon We Can't See From Earth

            Because it’s always been that way, most of us don’t notice one of the most remarkable coincidences about the moon in relation to the earth.  The moon’s “day” is exactly the same period of time it takes for the moon to cycle once around the earth. 

            The amazing effect of that coincidence is that, instead of seeing the front and back of the moon as it slowly rotates, we see only one side, one face, of the moon.  Viewed from earth, the side facing us never changes and never seems to rotate.

            Until 1959, when the Soviet Union's Luna 3 space probe circled the moon and took pictures of the other side of the moon – the side not facing the earth -- no one had any idea what the other side of the moon looked like. 

 

Luna 3's First Photo of the, then, "Dark," now, "Far Side of the Moon"

            We understood that the moon rotated and had days.  But we used the term “dark side of the moon,” not to mean the side that’s actually in darkness at any one moment.  Instead, the "dark side of the moon" was used to mean the side of the moon that was “dark” to us.  That is, the side of the moon we could never see.

            So, the phrase “dark side of the moon” was a bit of a poetic phrase meaning that there was a whole side of the moon that we couldn’t see – so its nature remained “dark” to us.  Well, when everyone had seen the 1959 pictures, the “dark” side of the moon wasn’t “dark” or unknown to us anymore. 

            So, meaning of the term “dark side of the moon” changed.  Now, the phrase refers to the side of the moon that happens to be in actual darkness at the moment.  What about the other side of the moon?  The side we can never see from earth?  Now, it’s called the “far side of the moon” because its always a bit farther away from us than side we can see.

            By the way, the term “dark side of the moon” is still used poetically to describe any quality or place or thing about which we don’t have, and may not be able to get, any information.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author





 

 

What is the “Moonwalk”?

11 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            The Moonwalk is a dance move the gives the illusion of the dancer being pulled backward while trying to walk forward.  Often compared to walking in a strong wind (with the powerful wind blowing the dancer backward as they try to walk forward), verbal descriptions of dance moves are notoriously . . . less than adequate.

            So, have a look.

Moonwalk

            This “move” has a remarkably long history.  Cab Calloway said that the move was called “The Buzz” when he performed it on stage in 1932.  Judy Garland and Margaret O’Brien did the move in the film Meet Me In St. Louis in 1944.  The French mime, Marcel Marceau, used it for 40 years in his routine, “Walking Against the Wind.”  In the 50’s, Dick Van Dyke performed the move in a comedy routine called “Mailing A Letter On A Windy Corner.”  James Brown used the move in the film “The Blues Brothers.” 

            During the 60’s and 70’s, a California street dance style called “popping” included the move.  Even with the long history, the moonwalk was anything but famous..  But, then, extensive use of the move by popper Jeffrey Daniel who performed the Moonwalk frequently in public performances would change everything.  Daniels had a fan who admired his dancing: Michael Jackson.

Popping

            During the 1983 television special, Motown 25: Yesterday, Today, Forever, Michael Jackson’s performance featured the Moonwalk.  His prolonged performance of that single move brought cheers from the audience.  The move became the focus of public attention.

            Michael Jackson made moonwalking his signature move performing it in his song, “Billie Jean.”  Jackson’s autobiography was titled Moonwalk.  Jackson starred in the 1988 film, Moonwalker.

            So, today, almost everyone knows what you mean when you talk about dancing the Moonwalk.  Of course, it’s a lot easier to say than to do.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri

& Belleville, Illinois

About the Author

 

What is a “Frost Moon”?

6 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            November’s “moon” is sometimes called the Frost Moon. “A moon” was a unit of time to the early American colonists and the Native American tribes of what is now the Northern United States.

            The "Frost Moon" extended from the new moon, a time when the moon can't be seen in the night sky, to the next new moon. That period of time was called the Frost Moon, and the full moon was called the Full Frost Moon.

 

Frost Moon

 
The meaning of the term “Frost Moon” seems like it doesn’t need explaining. In the Northern United States, November is a time when the first frosts of winter come. These are the first freezes that kill garden plants and signal the beginning of the winter.

But, it’s worth remembering that the names of the moons were picked to be meaningful.  Each name “said something” about the time – something important to the people who used the name.

So, what was so important about frost? The frost they were talking about was, then, called “hoarfrost.” Now, we would call it “white frost.” It’s the white frosty layer that forms over grass, plants and just about anything close to the ground. Now, it’s most obvious and irritating appearance is on auto windshields making it necessary to allow more time to get to work on late-fall mornings.
 
But, to the people who named this November moon, the white frost was a message to the wise and warning to the foolish. During this time, nature gave us white frosts in the early morning to warn us that winter was coming. Winter wasn’t an easy time in those distant days. People had to prepare their homes for the cold, stock firewood and, most importantly, food. Once the winter set in, it would be too late to make the necessary preparations.

The morning white frost told the wise that it was time get to the business of preparing for winter. But everyone doesn’t listen. So, the white frost was a warning to foolish procrastinators who, proverbially, would ignore the warning.

The cautionary tale went like this. Nature sends the white frost in the early morning. The wise get the message and act quickly. But the foolish ignore the warning. And ignoring the white frost was easy because the warning is brief.

Shortly after the sun rises, the white frost vanishes. The foolish tell themselves that, because the frost disappears so quickly, it is a false warning of a false onset of winter. In the warmth of midday, it’s easy to forget the morning’s white frost and pretend that winter will never come.

Surprisingly, in ancient China, the same tale was told of November. There, you were warned that when you walked on white frost in the morning, the strong ice was sure to come "by and by."  The Chinese tale included a warning to the busy person who might be fooled because the ice increases so very slowly from day to day.  If you remain distracted by other things, and forget preparation for winter, you might find yourself suddenly caught in “the strong ice” and be unable to make any preparations.

The Full Frost Moon comes on Thursday, 6 November. Today.

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri
& Belleville, Illinois
About the Author

What is “Moon River”?

04 November 2014

The Short Answer (TSA)

            Well, let’s get right to the point.  “Moon River” is the name of a song and two rivers. The popular song, “Moon River,” has a colorful history.  Seldom does a simple song manage to cause so much commotion. 

Audrey Hepburn Sings "Moon River"

            “Moon River” is the creation of Henry Mancini, who composed the music, and Johnny Mercer, who wrote the lyrics.  The original song wasn’t named “Moon River.”  Rather, the name was “Blue River.”  But another song writer was had already titled another song “Blue River,” so Mancini and Mercer changed the name of their song to “Moon River.”

            “Moon River” was written for the 1961film, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, which was based very loosely on a short story by writer Truman Capote.  This romantic comedy had an all-star cast with George Peppard cast opposite the lead, Audrey Hepburn playing the character Holly Golightly.  

            Mancini had carefully written the melody for Hepburn keeping it within her vocal range.  So, “Moon River” was written to be sung by Hepburn in the film, and it was.  But Hepburn’s version of the song appeared only in the film and, strangely, nowhere else.

Audrey Hepburn in the Breakfast at Tiffany's

            Again, Hepburn sings the “Moon River” in the film, but only an instrumental version of song was played over the film’s introductory credits.  After the film was screened to good reviews, a studio executive strongly suggested that Hepburn’s film performance of the song be cut from the film entirely.        

            There had been no other criticism of Hepburn’s performance.  So, she objected, and her version of the song remained in the film.  But her performance of “Moon River” disappeared from the soundtrack album to be replaced with an instrumental version.

            Not only was “Moon River” well received, but won an Academy Award for Best Original Song and a Grammy Award for Song of the Year.  Still, South African singer Danny Williams refused to record “Moon River” because he said that Johnny Mercer’s lyrics were “nonsensical.’   Then, Williams saw the film and emerged from the theatre saying that, after seeing the film, he loved both the song and its lyrics.  Williams recorded “Moon River.”  His version reached #1 on the U.K. charts in 1961.
 

Johnny Mercer & Henry Mancini

            Jerry Butler’s version of “Moon River” reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 Chart as did the Henry Mancini’s instrumental version.  Unaffected by the conflicted opinions about “Moon River’s” lyrics, Andy Williams knew a good song when he heard it.  He did more than just record the song.  He grabbed it and used it as his theme song.  In 2004, Moon River was fourth in the American Film Institute’s ranking of Most Memorable Songs in Hollywood History.

Andy Williams Sings "Moon River"

            What ever happened to Audrey Hepburn’s version of “Moon River?”  In 1993, it was finally released in an album of her songs several months after her death. 

            Now, what about those lyrics?  Mercer revealed in his autobiography that the lyric "My huckleberry friend" was a reference to a boyhood friend with whom he used to pick huckleberries, and was not intended to refer to Mark Twain’s, Huckleberry Finn.

            And was there really a Moon River?  Well, as some tell it, the song’s lyrics celebrate Mercer’s fond memories of growing up in Savannah, Georgia.  His boyhood home, it is said, overlooked the Moon River.

            Actually, Mercer’s boyhood home overlooked the Back River.  But, if the residents of Savannah love anything more than the song “Moon River,” it’s their native son, Johnny Mercer.  Shortly after the song started winning awards, the Back River name was changed to “Moon River.”  So, now, the Moon River does flow past Johnny Mercer’s boyhood home.  

 

Georgia's Moon River (formerly Back River)

            And, by the way, there’s another Moon River.  Ontario, Canada’s Moon River (a river and not a song) flows from Lake Muskoka to empty into Georgian Bay.  Sadly, it suffers by comparison with the other Moon River.  Not being associated with the popular song, it is less . . .  celebrated. 

            Not only is the story naming of this Moon River less than glamorous, but the river seems to have been named “Moon” by mistake.  The members of the native Ojibwa tribe called the river, “moonz-ziibi,” which actually means Moose rather than Moon River.   But the name “Moon River” stuck, so it’s a bit late to change it now.   
             This lack-luster name history is really a shame, because Ontario's Moon River is honest beautiful and well worth the time and trouble to visit.   

 Ontario's Moon River

M Grossmann of Hazelwood, Missouri & Belleville, Illinois

About the Author