Question About The Moon

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Martin Alonzo, Nov 26, 2017.

  1. Martin Alonzo

    Martin Alonzo Supreme Member
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    Not conspiracy but curiosity why is all the holes/craters on the moon are all round is there never been a glancing blow from a asteroid/meteor like here on earth ????? The earth has been hit many times most leave a long trench before they come to a halt.
     
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  2. Harry Havens

    Harry Havens Veteran Member
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    I think the error in your thinking is about craters on earth.

    If you think a meteor is just a big rock colliding with the moon, then a few oval craters, etc. would be in order, similar to a plane crashing into the earth. However, the impact of a meteor is more akin to an artilley shell, which explodes on impact.

    From Scientific American

    I forgot to mention this in another thread from awhile back. The moon does rotate while it travels around the earth, but at a rate of about 11 mph. Therefore the visible portion of the moon from earth, remains fairly stable. The moon once rotated much faster than now... way back before I was born. (lol)

    Impact! New Moon Craters Are Appearing Faster Than Thought
     
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  3. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Harry Havens

    You brought back a vivid memory for me! In the 5th. grade, our Science book, supported by the teacher, claimed the moon does not rotate on an axis, like the Earth, and ALWAYS FACES THE SAME PART TOWARDS EARTH, as it moves around the Earth. I questioned the sense in that. If the same "face" of the Moon always faces the earth, and it moves around the earth, it HAS to be rotating on an axis to accomplish this. The teacher hemmed and hawed, never committing. He HAD to know, intuitively, I was right, if he had any common-sense ability. Never revealed that, though.

    What say you of this dilemma?
    Frank
     
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  4. Martin Alonzo

    Martin Alonzo Supreme Member
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    what I seen like the one that hit Russia left a big trench on the land but when you look at the moon they seem to be direct hits and not glancing blows. meteor5.jpg
     
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  5. Harry Havens

    Harry Havens Veteran Member
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    What trench?
    It was an airburst, which caused damage to buildings within its flight path while disintegrating.
    From the Guardian.
     
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  6. Martin Alonzo

    Martin Alonzo Supreme Member
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    Discovery Activity: Are Craters Always
    Round?
    Overview
    Most of the craters we have seen on Mars, Mercury and the Moon are round, but
    is that always the case? Daniel Barringer experimented with this idea by firing
    bullets from different angles into mud and rocks to see if he could produce
    different shapes. He discovered that a projectile coming in at an oblique angle
    would still make a round hole.
    In an impact event, when the projectile hits the target material, there is a
    tremendous amount of kinetic energy released (the energy of the impact at
    Barringer Meteorite Crater has been estimated to have been the equivalent of 2.5
    Megatons of TNT!). Ejecta from the blast are thrown out of the crater in all
    directions, usually resulting in a circular crater when the excavation is complete.
    Non-circular craters require a very low impact angle, somewhere below ~30
    degrees (measured from the horizontal).
    I guess the moon never got hit with a meteorite at a thirty degree angle
     
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  7. Harry Havens

    Harry Havens Veteran Member
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    The relevant portion begins at 1:49:52

     
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