G7-Our Necessary Moon 800-900L – 02

Introduction

The days are led by our Sun. When we think of the night sky, the Moon is always first in mind. While the Sun produces light, the Moon only reflects the Sun’s light. Without the light reflecting off the Moon, some nights would be very dark. You may have heard of the harvest Moon, referring to a full Moon near the fall equinox. It was the light from this full Moon that allowed farmers to harvest their crops long into the night. Today, farm equipment has bright lights, making the moonlight far less important. Farmers today have less of a struggle to bring in the harvest even when the days are short due to the changing of seasons. Therefore, do we really need the Moon? Sure, it looks nice in the night sky, but has technology made it any less important or even unnecessary? Before these questions can be answered, it is important to know why the Moon is there in the first place.   

Moon’s Formation

Early in the formation of the solar system, gas and dust came together to form planets. It was all pulled together by gravity. It was unlike now, where planets have well-defined orbits swept free of debris. Back then it was much more like a game, perhaps cosmic billiards. According to one theory, it was one of these collisions that created our Moon. It is thought a Mars-sized object smashed into Earth. This collision is what caused an ejection of material out into space. This ejected material came together and cooled in an orbit around Earth. It is this material that eventually became our Moon. Within a few thousand years of the collision, Earth had once again recovered from the collision, but this time things were different.

It now had a nearby partner, exerting a great deal of gravity on Earth. It was this collision that set the stage for many things, not just a pretty Moon in our sky. In fact, we may owe our existence to this collision and the creation of the Moon.