Fly It To The Moon!

The fall of 2015 is a great time for moon watching.  On August 29, we get a SuperMoon!  This means that the moon is at epigee - closest in its orbit to the earth. Watch out if you are at the beach, because this means the tides will be extra high as the moon's gravitational pull is strong.  There is also a full lunar eclipse on September 27, beginning at 8:10 pm and going into full totality at 10:11 pm.

The Moon formed some 100,000 years after the formation of the solar system when a Mars-sized planet collided with the early-forming earth.  The debris from that collision scattered in three directions: some pieces condensed to become the earth as we know it today; other pieces condensed to become our Moon, and the rest were flung out into the asteroid belt.  Sometimes we sill get meteorites that are pieces from the Moon.  Scientists can identify them using a unique heat signature, which tells them when and how the meteorite was formed.

There are many unusual minerals on the moon.  My favorite is one called Armalcolite. It is named after the first three astronauts to the moon - Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin and Michael Collins.