Weird Facts About the Moon

Find Out Why We Have a Moon and What Exactly is on "the Dark Side" of It

If you're reading this, you are likely at least mildly interested in the place we live in: space. Besides what's at the very bottom of Earth's oceans, space is the only place us humans haven't been able to really figure out. It's a huge, mysterious place that only makes us ask questions and never provides us with answers. Fortunately, people smarter than you and I have figured out some of the unusual stuff that goes on in space. I'm simply going to let you in on some of the interesting and unusual stuff that goes on in space, specifically regarding the Earth's one and only Moon.

Many people have questions about the Moon, such as why Earth even has one. The Moon is believed to actually be a part of Earth which broke off when an object the size of Mars hit it in its early formation. This makes sense as the Moon and the Earth are essentially made out of the same materials, despite the fact that they look quite different. It is actually believed that many collisions similar to this occurred during our Solar System's formation, which is why this time is called Late Heavy Bombardment. That's why the Moon's surface, which is called regolith, is so powdery in texture. It's simply what happens to a body's surface when impacts occur over the course of billions of years.

If you look at the Moon, you'll also notice that it is covered with various light and dark regions. I've heard people think that that the dark areas are merely craters' shadows, but that is not the case. The dark areas, known as Maria, actually exist because giant meteors had often hit the Moon so hard during the Late Heavy Bombardment that they created holes that went deep down into the Moon's molten region. Then, the dark iron which was inside the Moon seeped up to the surface to fill in the holes. The Moon has cooled off over billions of years though, so it is believed that the molten region of the Moon is no longer active.