Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Big Fat Moon

Hasn't the moon been big and fat recently? I love the moon when it's big and fat and close to the horizon and there is still enough sunlight before the sun goes down. I overheard a question on the radio this week, asking how much does the moon weigh. The answer was of course some ludicrously heavy amount, actually it weighs nothing but has a mass of several million million kilos.

To be precise :  mass of the Moon = 7.36 × 1022 kilograms

The moon is a thing of beauty I think. Something to be observed from a distance, rather than seen up close - I have no desire to set foot on the moon. I do wonder whether man will ever have the resources and patience to venture into space and colonise another planet? We know so little about the universe really. I do find it fascinating to listen to scientists who try to make the complexities of quantum physics understandable to the common man. I wanted to be a mad scientist when I was a young boy, inventing rocket ships and ray guns. I still do have those desires infact. Never going to happen though - I just don't have the processing power in my brain to do calculations and I think you need to have a great deal of brain versatility to become a physicist. Dreaming doesn't hurt though does it?

2 comments:

laura b. said...

I'm fascinated by our satellite...our moon. It is beautiful.
Space both fascinates and terrifies me. There is something so lonely about the vastness, even with the promise of other life there.

FW said...

LB: I know what you mean, the vast cold emptiness of space, the harsh wilderness, the freezing cold...