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Moon
Lunar deity
Like the Sun, in many prehistoric and
ancient cultures, the Moon was also
personified as a deity or other supernatural
phenomenon.
Depending on the culture, the lunar deities
are often related to or an enemy of the
solar deity.
Lunar deities are usually held to be the
opposite sex of the corresponding solar
deity.
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Female deity
Many of the most
well-known
mythologies feature
female lunar deities.
The monthly cycle of
the moon has been
implicitly linked to
womens menstrual
cycles by many
cultures.
In Greek mythology, Selene is
the goddess of the Moon. She is
the sister of the Sun-god Helios.
Remarkable coincidence
The Moon is actually
much smaller than
the Sun.
The Moon and Sun
both have roughly the
same apparent size
because the Moon is
much closer to Earth
than the Sun. This is
a remarkable
coincidence.
Lunar phases
The Moons appearance undergoes a
regular cycle of changes, taking roughly
29.5 days to complete.
Islamic calendar
In the Islamic calendar, each month
commences on the birth of the new lunar cycle.
It is a lunar calendar.
Western calendar
The mean year is the tropical year,
which has about 365.24 days.
It is a solar calendar.
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Chinese calendar
In the Chinese calendar,
the months begin on
the day with the new
moon and end on the
day before the next
new moon.
It is a lunisolar calendar.
In the Chinese calendar,
the date indicates both
the lunar phase and the
time of the tropical year.
In the Chinese calendar, winter
solstice ( ) must occur in
the winter month ( ), which
is the month after the 10th
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month.
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Major misconception
Earths shadow is
not the cause of
the lunar phases.
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Half-sunlit Moon
Since the Moon
shines by reflected
sunlight, at any
instant only half of
the Moons surface
is illuminated by
the Sun.
The half-sunlit Moon (and Earth),
as seen from the outer space
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Full Moon
When the Sun and
the Moon are in
opposition
directions from
Earth, the entire
lunar sunlit side is
facing Earth.
From Earth, we see
the full Moon.
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Crescent
When the Moon
and the Sun are in
close directions
from Earth, only a
small fraction of
the lunar sunlit
side is facing Earth.
From Earth, we see
the crescent.
Earthshine
Earthshine is most
readily observable
from shortly before
until shortly after a
new Moon, during the
waxing or waning
crescent phase.
The night side appears
to glow faintly and the
entire orb of the Moon
is dimly visible.
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Wanin
g
cresce
nt
Waxin
g
cresce
nt
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Tides
Most people are familiar with the daily
fluctuation in ocean level.
At most coastal locations on Earth, there are
two low tides and two high tides each day.
The interval of time from one high tide to the
next is about 12 hours and 25 minutes.
Gravity
Newtons law of gravity states that every
particle of matter in the universe attracts
every other particle with a force.
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Earth-Moon system
Earth and the Moon
are orbiting around
a common center
of mass.
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Centrifugal forces
As Earth and the
Moon orbit around
a common center
of mass, they do
not fall towards
each other, as their
gravities are
opposed by the
centrifugal forces.
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The tides
The tides we
experience result as
Earth rotates beneath
the deformed ocean.
The interval of time
from one high tide to
the next is about 12
hours and 25 minutes.
It is longer than 12
hours (half a day)
because the Moon also
orbits around Earth as
Earth rotates.
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Eclipses
Solar eclipse
Lunar eclipse
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Lunar eclipse
Several cultures
have myths related
to lunar eclipses.
They saw the
eclipse as the
Moon being eaten
by something,
which was why it
looked blood red.
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Exact alignment
A lunar eclipse
occurs when the
Sun, Earth, and the
Moon are aligned
exactly.
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Earths Shadow
As the Moon orbits
around Earth, it
passes through
Earths shadow.
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Appearance
A total eclipse
A partial eclipse
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Round shadow
While several ancient
cultures saw the
eclipse as the Moon
being eaten by
something, the Greeks
were ahead of their
time.
The Greek said the
Earth was round and
used the shadow from
the lunar eclipse as
evidence.
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Partial eclipse
Usually, the
alignment is
imperfect, so the
shadow never
completely covers
the Moon.
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Unfavorable configuration
In an unfavorable configuration, the full
Moon lies above or below Earths orbital
plane, and a lunar eclipse cannot occur.
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Favorable configuration
In a favorable configuration, the full Moon
crosses Earths orbital plane, and a lunar
eclipse is seen.
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Predicting eclipses
Because we know the orbits of Earth
and the Moon to great accuracy, we
can predict eclipses far into the
future.
Weblink: NASA Eclipse Web Site
Eclipse Calculator
Solar Eclipses in Singapore
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Solar eclipse
A solar eclipse
occurs when the
Sun, the Moon, and
Earth are aligned.
The Moon passes in
front of the Sun,
and obscures the
disk of the Sun.
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Partial eclipse
In a partial eclipse,
only a portion of
the Suns disk is
obscured.
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Total eclipse
In a total eclipse,
the disk of the Sun
is fully obscured by
the Moon.
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Dark sky
The sky briefly
turns dark.
Planets and some
stars become
visible in the
daytime.
Time-Lapse:
A Total Solar Eclips
e
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Annular eclipse
In an annular
eclipse, the disk of
the Sun is not fully
obscured by the
Moon, because the
apparent size of
the Moon is smaller
than that of the
Sun.
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Uncommon observation
Although solar eclipses
are natural phenomena,
it is not common to
observe one from a
given location.
In some ancient and
modern cultures, solar
eclipses have been
attributed to
supernatural causes or
regarded as bad omens.
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