Hello anjan_san-ga,
This is the second beautiful astronomy question I've had the pleasure
of working on in two days. In case you are interested, here is the
other one:
"Q: Locating a star and it's star chart"
Google Answers
https://answers.google.com/answers/main?cmd=threadview&id=125610
While feilong-ga has requested clarification, I feel that the question
you have asked is already clear. A small child asked "Why is the
moon?", in the way that small children do. You interpreted the
child's question to mean, "Why is the moon there?", and would like to
know how to answer that (along with some information on what the cause
of the moon is). If I am wrong in my understanding of your question,
please let me know and I'll be happy to add to or correct my answer.
My assumption is that you would prefer an answer that relies on
imagination more than specific research. (I typed the word "moon"
into Google and browsed the result pages to get myself started. But
then I got up from the computer and mused for a while, returning to
write down some ideas.) Of course, I'll provide a little research
too, especially as to the cause of the moon.
I suppose that the answer depends, in part, on whether you believe in
a higher power. In certain religions, people worship the moon. Some
people believe the moon can be a sign or an omen. Other people think
that the moon is part of God's plan for the universe, or for humanity.
So, in other words, the moon may be there because it is a deity, a
deity's warning, or part of a deity's master plan.
Many myths and folktales are associated with the moon. You might try
browsing these sites to see if one or more sound good to you:
Results of search in Myths category for: moon
Google Directory
://www.google.com/search?q=moon&num=30&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&safe=off&cat=gwd/Top/Arts/Literature/Myths_and_Folktales/Myths&filter=0
But even if you don't believe in the supernatural or legends, you can
believe that the moon has a purpose. I think that the best
explanations are indeed ones that you can tell a child, although
adults can appreciate them too. Here are several possibilities:
* The moon is there to mark time. As you may know, the word "month"
is related to the word "moon", since the passage of time was
traditionally recorded by the revolutions of the moon (in other words,
the passage from new moon to new moon).
"Re: Etymology" (Posted by R. Berg on October 13, 2001)
The Phrase Finder
http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/11/messages/230.html
* The moon is there to create the tides of the oceans. This
explanation is probably better for a somehwat older child. One
problem is that the next question would be: "Why do the oceans have
tides?" I don't know the answer to that question offhand, but I can
look it up if you'd like (or you can ask it as a new question if you
want a lot of research).
* The moon is there to light the night. This explanation sounds good
at first; I think it would have made sense to me as a small child,
especially on a moonlit evening. However, a child might look up at
certain times and ask, "Why is the moon out during the day", "Why is
the moon hiding tonight?", or "Why is the moon a crescent?". So this
answer may work for only a short amount of time.
* The moon is there to provide a face to look down on us. I thought
the "Man in the Moon" was fascinating when I was little. I guess I
still do.
* The moon is there to keep the Earth company.
* The moon is there to chase the sun. You could add that when the
moon catches the sun, it is called an eclipse. I suppose the
difficult follow-up question would be "Why does the moon chase the
sun?" Perhaps there is a myth about that question....
* The moon is there to give people something to aspire to. Even
before space travel was possible, people dreamed of reaching the moon.
Jules Verne wrote a novel about it, and Georges Méliès made a great
silent film about it. And finally, in the 1960s, people went ahead
and did it. This explanation would be good for a child who is
adventurous. (Of course, many people believe that the moon landings
never happened, and were just staged for television. If this is your
view, then I suppose this suggestion wouldn't be useful.)
As for what caused the moon to exist, several theories have been
proposed: fission (the moon spun off from the Earth); capture (the
moon formed elsewhere and was captured by Earth's gravitational
filed); condensation (the moon and the Earth condensed individually
during the formation of the solar system); and giant impactor or
ejected ring (a small planet struck the Earth, ejecting material from
the outer layers of both objects, which eventually became the moon).
This last theory is the favored one, and has received support from
results of a recent simulation.
"Question: Where did the Moon come from?"
NASA
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/questions/question38.html
"How did Earth get its moon?" (August 15, 2001)
CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2001/TECH/space/08/15/moon.impact/
"Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) News: SwRI®, UCSC researchers
identify the Moon-forming impact" (August 15, 2001)
Southwest Research Institute
http://www.swri.org/9what/releases/canupmoon.htm
I hope that my answer is helpful.
- justaskscott-ga
Search terms used on Google:
"creation of the moon"
"formation of the moon"
[I also searched in the Google Directory for myths about the moon.] |
