Whew!!! Thank God for the moon, right?

Doesn't the moon's gravity pull away alot of astroids and meteors that would have hit the Earth? Just by looking at the moon, there are hundreds if not thousands of craters that might have hit us?

I love looking at the moon through my telescope, it is a wonderful mysteerious cousin the is our closest on set of sapce travel. Though the moon does serve it's purpose , it has a view that would allow the mind to ponder the reaches beyond it.

Here is a few paragraph's of the significance of the moon, and by the way, "There is a lot more to the surface of the moon thanmeet's the natural eye, it has been thought that there has been life form's that once inhabited it as a refuge of either displacement or other intention's" if you would like to se what i am talking about u2u me, got some amazing picture's to share!!

The regular daily and monthly rhythms of Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon, have guided timekeepers for thousands of years. Its influence on Earth's cycles, notably tides, has also been charted by many cultures in many ages. More than 70 spacecraft have been sent to the Moon; 12 astronauts have walked upon its surface and brought back 382 kg (842 pounds) of lunar rock and soil to Earth.
The presence of the Moon stabilizes Earth's wobble. This has led to a much more stable climate over billions of years, which may have affected the course of the development and growth of life on Earth.
How did the Moon come to be? The leading theory is that a Mars-sized body once hit Earth and the resulting debris (from both Earth and the impacting body) accumulated to form the Moon. Scientists believe that the Moon was formed approximately 4.5 billion years ago (the age of the oldest collected lunar rocks). When the Moon formed, its outer layers melted under very high temperatures, forming the lunar crust, probably from a global "magma ocean."

something for you to look at while on the read Mouth, "Enjoy."



source:

solarsystem.nasa.gov...

Originally posted by Mouth
Doesn't the moon's gravity pull away alot of astroids and meteors that would have hit the Earth? Just by looking at the moon, there are hundreds if not thousands of craters that might have hit us?

Earth would look more cratered than the moon if we didn't have erosion from wind, rain and tectonic movement clearing the landscape. The moon has no erosion so the craters you see have collected over millions of years and will remain visible until the end. Earths real "savior" is Jupiter because it acts like a cosmic vacuum cleaner.



[edit on 20-7-2006 by kinglizard]

KL got that one spot on. On top of Jupiter sucking up a lot of the random bits of the Solar System, it also helps keep the majority of asteroids in the belt and at its Trojan Points. More on those asteroids can be found here as well.

Also, the Sun has done quite a bit of cleaning up as far as asteroids and comets go. Just look at all the impacts on Mercury!



Also, just for posterity, here's the back side of the Moon.
Large image and I don't want to break up the flow of the thread.

The moons backside..

What do you call it when the moon shows you it's backside?

It is still possible that the moon may have taken a few hits for us.

But yeah, Jupiter, Big gravitational Jupiter..Look what it did to Shooemaker-Levy 9.
Thanks JUP!

Those Trojan asteroids have always amused me. They are often represented as clusters of objects that travel in two huge packs (one 60 degrees in front of Jupiter, and the other 60 degrees behind), giving the suggestion that they all stick close together, and that they all orbit the Sun in the plane of Jupiter's orbit. However, that just isn't true. The reality is that the orbits of these objects librate around two points situated 60 degrees from Jupiter (along its orbit).

If you try simulating the motion of one of these objects, you will notice that it moves a considerable distance away from this 60 degree point. In addition, the orbits of these asteroids are rarely in the same plane as that of Jupiter, and they have vastly different eccentricities and inclinations.

Originally posted by Allred5923
if you would like to se what i am talking about u2u me, got some amazing picture's to share!!

Hi Allred5923,
can you please share some of these pics? Please u2u me.
Thanks in advance,
GeDi

Originally posted by Mouth
Doesn't the moon's gravity pull away alot of astroids and meteors that would have hit the Earth? Just by looking at the moon, there are hundreds if not thousands of craters that might have hit us?

What I dont understand and I hope someone can explain, is why do we see any craters at all on the side of the moon that faces us? Did an asteriod somehow swivel around and smack the side facing Earth? How does science explain the craters we can see on the near (light) side of the moon?

Not all asteroids, comets, etc are going to be traveling in the same plane as the Earth and Moon, so they can come from above and below. Also, they could have impacted at an angle.

For example, take a basketball and a softball, which will represent the Earth and Moon, respectively. Now, the Moon protects the Earth in the same plane (which would be the plane of the floor), but from the sides you can still see the near side of the Moon. From the top you can still see the Lunar surface as well.

Did that clarify things for you a bit?

EDIT TO ADD: Though, what you suggested is entirely possible. If an asteroid, comet, etc passed close enough to Earth, and the Moon were in the right place at the right time (or wrong in this scenario), the body could be slingshotted right for the Moon. Of course, the same can happen from bodies passing by the Moon towards Earth.

[edit on 7/21/2006 by cmdrkeenkid]

>

What I dont understand and I hope someone can explain, is why do we see any craters at all on the side of the moon that faces us? Did an asteriod somehow swivel around and smack the side facing Earth? How does science explain the craters we can see on the near (light) side of the moon?

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Uhm... the Moon isn't right up next to the Earth so the Earth doesn't make that great a shield?

And the chances of the Moon deflecting something on an impact path for Earth aren't all that great... it would have to be directly in or very close to the path of the object. A position it would only be in for around one day a month.

[edit on 21-7-2006 by apc]

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
EDIT TO ADD: Though, what you suggested is entirely possible. If an asteroid, comet, etc passed close enough to Earth, and the Moon were in the right place at the right time (or wrong in this scenario), the body could be slingshotted right for the Moon. Of course, the same can happen from bodies passing by the Moon towards Earth.

I understand what you saying. That big crater, Tycho, and all the ones we see all over the 'face' of the moon, surely there must be an area that will be free from impact craters, a place that will be shielded due to gavity and simply by the fact the Earth is blocking them. Do we ever see new craters being formed, in say the last 300 years?

I saw a show on how the moon affects the Earth, and it is quite significant. Apparently Earth's rotation axis would be far more variable without it. So Antarctica could swap places with the Sahara over a relatively short time period, making it much more difficult for life to exist on Earth.

Originally posted by Dae
Do we ever see new craters being formed, in say the last 300 years?

Wiki has a website that lists all the craters of the moon and when they (we think?) were formed.

Craters of the moon


hope that helps.


Mouth

Originally posted by Mouth
Wiki has a website that lists all the craters of the moon and when they (we think?) were formed.

Cant seem to find the dating, only dates of the people who named them. What Im asking is this, has anyone in our recorded history ever looked at the moon one night and in the next night see a newly formed crater?

Asteroids and comets are still hitting the Moon and Earth all the time, though they hit less frequently now than earlier in the formation of the solar system.

Here is a recent report of a meteor strike on the Moon.

science.nasa.gov...

Wouldn't a great part of the Moon's visible impact craters be due to it's lack of a protective atmosphere?

It takes a fairly good sized hunk of rock to make it through Earth's atmosphere without burning up.

As well, a large percentage of the earth's land mass is covered by vegetation which would disguise crater impacts to a considerable extent.

Originally posted by Hal9000
Here is a recent report of a meteor strike on the Moon.

science.nasa.gov...

Thanks Hal, that link was just what I was looking for! Plus I dont feel dumb for asking 'cos:

There are many questions that need answering: "How often do big meteoroids strike the moon? Does this happen only during meteor showers like the Leonids and Taurids? Or can we expect strikes throughout the year from 'sporadic meteors?'" asks Suggs. Explorers on the moon are going to want to know.

The reason the moon is covered in craters is because it has no atmosphere. Every little meteor that comes by smashes into the surface. On Earth, because of our atmosphere, it takes a fairly large meteor to survive being vaporized, and even then, the meteor is going to have taken some damage due to the friction and heat, so they will be smaller and therefore not hit as hard, making smaller craters.

The moon would, however, as you suggest, pull some asteroids/meteors away from hitting the earth due to gravity. However, I suspect the number of such meteors deflected is quite small.

Originally posted by cmdrkeenkid
Also, just for posterity, here's the back side of the Moon.

I've seen the Dark Side of the Moon...




lol

Also, the Moon keeps us from being totally flooded.

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Actually there are lots of rocks that hit the Earth every day, but those rocks evaporate in the atmosphere. There have been many large asteroids hitting Earth in the past, just like the Moon.