Moon Phases!

     Hello everyone, and welcome too... Meapz4Science! Today we will talk some more about the moon. We will talk about... It's phases! I will have some help from Science Cat! Welcome! "Hello! I'd love to help!" Alright, then let's get started!

     Alright. First we will talk about the superstitions regarding the moon's phases. "Like wolves howling at the moon?" Yes. As a matter of fact, wolves don't howl at the moon. They raise their heads in the air for acoustics, not to talk to the moon. "OK, here's another one: 'Is it true that strange behavior increases on nights of full moons?' Huh, it's a good theory." It isn't true, though. Scientists did a study, and there is no correlation with crime and the moon phases. "It' a bad idea anyway. If I were to rob a bank, I would do it during a new moon." They don't know about that yet! "Well then, let's get on with it then."





     Okay, now we will talk about the moon's phases. "Wait! Some of our readers might not know what moon phases are!" Oh, yeah. Okay, so you know how sometimes the moon doesn't always appear in a full circle? "Or how sometimes you can't see it at all? Those are phases!" Yep. The reason the moon goes through phases is because the sun strikes the moon's surface at different angles. "One side of the moon is lit up, while one side of the moon is dark. It isn't always the same side, but we see the same side all the time." So, let's get on with the first one!

New Moon

     Okay, the first moon phase is the new moon. This doesn't mean the moon is brand new. "This phase occurs when the moon is between us and the sun, so we can't see it." Right. You can't see a thing, not even a sliver. "That would be a waxing crescent. But we haven't gotten to that yet." No spoilers! Anyways, let's move on to the Waxing phases.

  

Waxing Phases

     Now we will talk about the waxing phases. "Waxing means, increasing. You can tell what the moon is doing during this time." Right. You have the Waxing Crescent, which is the time between the new moon and the 1st Quarter. "The 1st quarter occurs when you can only see half of the illuminated side," Or 1 quarter of the moon. Then you have the Waxing Gibbous. "Gibbous means humpbacked, or the way the moon looks during this time." This is the time between the 1st quarter and the full moon. Now let's get on with every one's favorite!

Full Moon!!!

     Now it's time for... The full moon! "This is my favorite phase!" Yep! This occurs when the Earth is between the sun and moon, meaning we can see the whole illuminated half of it! Yay! " But wouldn't that be a lunar eclipse? And about the new moon, how is that not a solar eclipse?" I will tell you. The moon isn't lined up directly with the equator. It almost always either stays above or below the equator. So yeah. 

Waning Phases

     Alright, so now we will talk about the Waning Phases. "The waning phases are basically the opposite of the waxing phases." Right. Waning means "decreasing" so it is going back to the new moon. "You also have the 'last quarter' which is when you see the other half of the lit up moon." You also have the waning gibbous and the waning crescent, but we won't get much into those.

 

      Alright guys, that's all for today! " We hope you thoroughly enjoyed!" I'm Emma The Meap, "And I'm Science Cat," And we will see you next time. peace!!!

 Check out Science Cat's Bog Here!

Click here for a 2014 lunar calendar! 

Moon!

     Hello everyone, and Welcome to... Meapz4Science! Today we will not talk about a planet, but we will talk about... The Moon! Today we have a guest with me. She is Science Fairy! "Yep! I am here to talk about the moon with you!" Thank you! So, Let's get started!

     Alright, first we will talk about it's brightness and darkness. "Right. If the moon doesn't produce light on its own, how is it the second brightest object in the solar system?" I will tell you. When it is night time here in America, the sun is "behind" us, right? "Yes. And the moon is in front of us." So the moon is "facing" the sun, so the light is reflecting off the Moon's surface. "Oh okay, I understand now."

     Okay, now we will talk about it's phases. "This will answer your 'If the moon is a sphere, how come I see it as a crescent?' question." If you have that question, then listen up! The reason you see it like that is because the sunlight is actually being blocked by the Earth's shadow. When a new moon occurs, this means that the Earth is letting almost no light get to the moon at all. "When a full moon occurs, the Earth is out of the way of the sunlight, leaving the moon full in all its glory!" Right. You can see all the phases in this diagram:

     Okay, now we will- "Hang on, hang on. You haven't even explained how the Moon got here in the FIRST PLACE!" I was getting to that! Okay, STORY TIME! When the Earth was still young and forming, an object about the size of Mars collided with the Earth, "Spraying molten rock all into the Earth's orbit. All that rock eventually clumped together to form the satellite we call the Moon!" THE END! There you go. Happy now?

     Alright, now you have all heard the phrase 'Once in a blue moon' Once in your life, but what does it mean? "We are going to tell you. It actually does not mean the moon turns blue." What really happens is that two full moons appear in a row. "Even though the moon can't go blue, the angle of the sun does sometimes make it appear orange n the sky."





     Okay, now we will talk about The moon's orbiting pattern. The moon rotates once every 27 days or so. "The moon completes an orbit around earth every 29 days, or around a month's time." This means we always only see one side of the moon. "Because we are the superstitious people that we are, it led to the theory that aliens live on the dark side of the moon and stuff." I'd rather not find out the hard way.

     As we all know, the moon's surface isn't really... perfect. "Yeah. It isn't really a sphere like some people think." There are tons and tons of craters from meteors that have hit the moon. "But how come we don't have those on Earth? I mean, our gravity IS stronger." Well, unlike us, the moon doesn't have an atmosphere to burn them up. "Oh, okay." It also has dark patches we call seas, even though they don't have water on or in them.

Okay, now it is time for fun facts on the Moon and stuff!!

1) The moon is Earth's only satellite.

2) When a Super moon occurs, the moon comes closer to the earth and becomes really big.

3) The words lunatic and looney come from the Latin word for moon, Luna.

     Alright, that's all for today. I'm Emma The Meap, "And I'm Science Fairy," And we will see you next time. BYE!!!

Click here to learn more about the moon's phases! 

Want more superstitions about the Moon? Click here to see some! 

  

Neptune!

     Hello everyone, and welcome to... Meapz4Science! Today we will talk about the big blue planet everyone loves. It's... Neptune! "Is it Sailor Neptune?" Amisha, what are you doing here? " I wanted to help. Jeez." Fine, you can help. And no, it isn't about Sailor Neptune!

     Alright, first we will talk about Neptune's name origin. "Neptune, as we all know, is blue. This made its discoverers think of the ocean." Right. So they only saw it fit to name it after the Roman God of the sea. "The Romans get to name everything."



     Okay, next we will talk about how Neptune was discovered. "Well, neptune was actually discovered by mathematicians Urbain Le Verrier and John Couch Adams." Well, you are a little bit right. They noticed Uranus had an irregular orbit, and thought another planet's gravity might be causing it. "So they used math to find out exactly where Neptune might be?" Yep. Then the had astronomer Johann Gottfried Galle use their mesurements, and there it was.

     Alright. Now we will compare Neptune to the other gas giants. Neptune is the smallest planet of the gas giants. "A planet that is similar in a lot of ways is Uranus. Boy, I love to talk about that! He." Amisha! Anyways, one thing that they have in common is their size. Neptune is only slightly smaller than Uranus. "Man! Uranus must be large! He He." Amisha! If you wanted to make Uranus jokes, you could have come to my last blog post! "Jeez. Jerk much?" I'm not a- never mind. Another thing they have in common is their composition. Like Uranus, Neptune has mostly hydrogen in the atmosphere, with that little bit of methane that makes it blue.

     In comparison with Jupiter and Saturn, it is one main thing for both. Like Saturn, Neptune has rings. "No it doesn't! You are wrong!" No I'm not! Neptune does have rings! They are just very faint and young. "Humph. Prove it!" Ugh. SECURITY! GET THIS WEIRDO OFF MY SET! Thank you. Who do we have now? "It's me, Science Fairy!" Finally someone who cares! Anyway, now we will talk about what it has in common with Jupiter. "Hmm... The Great Red Spot?" Exactly! Except on Neptune it is called the Great Dark Spot, and it is located around the middle of Neptune. "Well, what else is different? The last time I checked, the Great Dark Spot wasn't there, and a new one formed around the bottom of the planet." Good question. This just shows that unlike Jupiter, Neptune's atmosphere is always active, and when a storm stops, another one can form. "Cool."

     Alright, did you know that Neptune has 13 moons? "Yes I do, actually." Really? You could have- never mind. But I'll tell you something you might not know. "Okay, tell me. Well, one of its moons, Triton, actually orbits in the opposite way Neptune rotates. "Well, actually, I-" Don't even pretend like you knew! I know you didn't! Okay, now we will talk about some interesting facts about Neptune!

1. Even if Pluto was still a planet, Neptune would still sometimes be the farthest, because Pluto's orbit crosses over Neptune's.
2. The Great Dark Spot is accompanied by another storm called "Scooter," because of how fast it travels.
3. How does Methane make Neptune blue? Well, Methane absorbs the warm colors and reflects off the blue and green, and that is what we see. 

     Well, that's all for today. I'm Emma The Meap, "And I'm Science Fairy," And we will see you next time!

Check out Science Fairy's Blog Here!

Learn More about Neptune Here!