When I was a student in high school, apart from physics and mathematics, I am also interested in astronomy as well. For me, it is very interesting and has many mysteries about it. Therefore, when I saw “Earth may once have had two moons” in the Science and Environment section of BBC news (McGrath, 2011), I am really interested in it and need to share to everyone.
According to “Earth may once have had two moons”, Matt McGrath reports that a new theory suggests the Earth may used to have a small second moon, but it expired by a slow motion collision with our moon. Researchers suggest this collision may solve the question about the mysterious mountains on the far side of our moon. For long time, scientists have been attempting to understand why the near side of our moon is flat whereas the far side has very high mountain that higher than 3000 meter. Some theories suggest the cause of this phenomenon is tidal heating or pulling of the Earth, but the new theory suggests a long-term series of cosmic collisions is the cause of it. The new theory point out that, at first, the Earth has had two moons, but after spending millions of year for stuck, the smaller moon started to crash with the bigger one by low velocity. From the reason that two moons crash together by a low velocity, so it could not melt. Last, the author hope that in the future we will know which theory is more possible.
I think many people do not know that our moon is not a sphere but it has a very high mountain in far side that I have just told you in above. From this information means the Earth has distorted moon. I am very surprised about it because from the Earth, I can see the moon every night, but why I do not know it is not sphere. However, it is real information, so I have to believe it.
In my opinion, the new theory is more probable than some theories which suggest the causes of distorted moon are tidal heating or pulling of the Earth because these causes are not likely to have an impact on the moon as it changes its shape. The theory of cosmic collision is more possible as objects in our universe are moving all the time. Sometime, it can be crash together. Other planet can have more than one moon; for examples, the Mars has two moons, the Uranus has more than twenty moons, and the Jupiter has forty moons (Many Moons, 2003), so in the past, the Earth may has had more than one moon. Moreover, the Mercury and the Venus which do not have moon might have had moon in the past, but it might perish by collision as well. However, I hope that in the future will have the real answer of this mysterious question from astronomers or other person who do research about it. I will continue to wait. :)
McGrath, M. (2011, August 3). Earth may once have had two moons. BBC News. Retrieved August 5, 2011 from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-14391929
Many Moons. (2003, January 22). Solar System Explorations. Retrieved August 5, 2011 from http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/news/display.cfm?News_ID=4265
Thank you Fai,
ReplyDeleteI'm one of those people who didn't know what the far side of the moon was like. I had actually seen the title on the BBC, but didn't read teh story, so your summary was useful - it's saved me the trouble of reading McGrath's article myself.
I also enjoyed reading the issues you discuss in your thoughtful response. You write "however, it is real information, so I have to believe it" (¶ 3). Naturally, I want to know how you know it's real information. (I'm not disagreeing, I do think you're right, but how do we know that?) I have another question, but I'll wait to see your classmates comments first.
I often find the reports in the science / health and technology sections of the BBC the most interesting.
And thanks for this well written example to get these response writings off to a good start.
Wow!! I'm the one of those people as well!!
ReplyDeleteI had always thought it's a sphere!
While I'm reading this, it reminds me of the argument of American Astronauts (I can't remember their names) who step on the moon, some say it's true but some say it's fake. Do you have any idea about that? I don't keep in touch the information. Please tell me if you know... Thanks :))
I have heard that, too, but I'm not sure that is true or fake. Some people said about the photo which took on the moon that in fact, it took in the studio. However, nobody know what is the real information, so it is also in mystery. In my opinion, in the future, we will can go to the moon. :)
ReplyDeleteInteresting Title, Fai. In the past, the Earth may has had more than one moon. So maybe our earth have moons more than 2 in the future.
ReplyDeletePS:
@Tang The human who landed the first step on the earth's moon is Neil Armstrong on July 20, 1969 with Apollo 11.