The Pickens sentinel-journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1903-1906, 1906-08-22
BIRTH or THE. MOON
LUNA WAS FLUNG OUT OF THE EARTH
INTO SPACE.


not the land bound. sea swept globe
SO familiar to US, but liquid mass on
which 1onted crust somo thirty-f1ve
miles thick. At that period, says tho
Strand Magazine 1t turned OH Its axis
: at constantly incrc. ..4!.;,; speed that
finally shortened the day to three hours.
When that terrific velocity was OBJ
tanned 5000 cubic million miles Of mat
ter were hurled Off by tho enormous
centrifugal force, and our moon was
born. Tho cleaving Of SO largo a body
must have left somo scar OH tho carth's
surface. 1t has accordingly been sug-
gcsted that the great basin now occu-
pied by tho Pacific ocean was onco
filled by what Is now tho moon.
Our moon has tho distinction Of bo-
Ing the largest Of all planetary sat
ellites-so large, indeed, that to tho
inhabitants Of Mars 1t must appear
with the earth as a wonderfully beau
tiful twin planet
because the moon rOtntcs ON Its axis
III exactly tho snmo time that 1t re-
wolves around the earth we are des-
tined to see little more than ono hemi-
Hphcro. SO slow is this rotation that
the lunar day ie equal to fifteen Of our
days. For half q month the moon Ia
exposed to the fierce heat Of tho sun;
for half Il month 1t spins through space
In tho denscst gloom
Smaller IN mass than the earth Is,
the moons attraction for bodies must
bo correspond1ngly less. A good ter.
restrlGl athlete could cover about 12O
feet on the moon In a running broad
jump, and leaping over a barn would
be very commonplace feat. A mor
in tho moon could carry six times as
much and run six times ns fast as no
could OH tho earth.
Although separated from us by
distance that at times reaches 253,0O
miles and Is mover less than 1000
miles, we know more ol tho physical
formation Of the single pnllid face that
tho moon ever turns toward us than
we know Of certain parts Of Asia and
the heart Of Africa. Powerful tcle-
scopes have brought our satellite with
IN distance OF forty miles Of the
earth. Physicists havo mnthematically
weighed 1T and fixed Its mass ut ono
eighth OF the earth, or $4,000, ,0OO, ,OOO,-
600 tons.
The moon presents aspects without
any terrestrial parallel. Rent by fires
long since dead. ita honcycomDed
crust seems like q great globe Of chill
CD Stag. Craters arc not uncommon on
tho earth, but in number, size and
structure they bear for tho most part
little resemblance to those Of the moon
y lunar crater Is not the mouth OF q
volcano having diameter Of few
hundred feet, but great circular plain
twenty, fifty, even hundred miles
in diameter, surrounded by precipice
rising to'n height Of 5000 or 10000
feet, with central hill or two about
half as high.
Water cannot possibly exist as
liquid, for tho temperature Of the
moons surface during the long lunar
night IS probably not far from 400
degrees below the zero mnrk of O
Fahrenheit thermometer, and tho at
mospheric pressure IS so low that q
gns under pressure would solidify rs
1t escaped. Ice and snow are tho
forms, then, which lunar water must
assume
Because Of the present paucity Of
water the moons atmosphere Is so OK
cccdingly rare that startling effects
arc produced. Perhaps the most strlll-
ing is that Of tho sunrise. Dawn md
the soft golden glow that ushers IN
terrestrial day thoro cannot be. The
sun leaps from the horizon flaming
sickle, and tho loftier peaks inime-
diatcly flash into light.
There Is no azure sky to relieve tho
monotonous effects Of inky black shad-
oWs and dazzling whito exDanses. The
sun CLEANS III fierce. splendor, with no
clouds to dlffuse Its binding light.
All day long 1t Is accompanied by the
weird ZodiacAl light that wo behold Mt
rare intervals.
Even In midday tho heavens arc
pitch black. so that despite tho sun
light. tho stars and planets CLEAN
with brightness that they never ex.
hiblt to US even on tho clearcst OF
moonlcss nights at sea. They shine
steadily, too, for 1t is tho earth's at
mosphero that causes thom to twinkle
to our eyes.
In tho limo of sight 1t is impossible
to estimate distances. for thero Is no
such phenomenon az aerial pcrspec-
tive. Objects arc seen only when tho
rays of tho sun strike them.
At times thero may be observed
spots which darlSen after sunrise and
gradually disappear toward sunset
Ihcy cannot bo caused by shadows.
for shadows would be least visible
"hen tho sun Is directly overhead.
They appear most quickly at tho
equator and Invade tho higher alti-
tuecs after lapse Of q fow doys In
tho polar regions they hive neyor been
seen. What arc they7 Organic life
resembling vegetation. answers lro.
fcssor Pickering Of Harvard univer.
s'ty, vegetation that fiourlshea Iux,,r,.
antly while tho sun shines and wIthora
at night,
A single day, 1t may DO urged ia
not sufficiently long for tho deveion.
ment and decay Of vegetation, but aix.
teen hours on tho moon Is little moro
than half mn hour on tho earth; q day
lasts haff month and may be regard
ed as miniature season.
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