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}}A '''moon''' is a body which orbits a [[planet]]. The Earth's Moon (sometimes known as "Luna") is a natural [[satellite]] orbiting Earth at an average distance of about 238,000 miles (380,000 km).  

}}A '''moon''' is a body which orbits a [[planet]]. The Earth's Moon (sometimes known as "Luna") is a natural [[satellite]] orbiting Earth at an average distance of about 238,000 miles (380,000&nbsp;km).  

The Moon is unique in the solar system in its large relative size compared with the [[Earth]].  The Moon appears from the Earth to be the same size as the [[sun]], in perfect artistic symmetry, unlike any known other planet-moon system.  Moreover, unlike most planets in the [[solar system]], [[Earth]] has only one moon. And the Moon has two more remarkable artistic attributes: (1) it rotates and revolves in a way such that only one side is ever visible to the Earth (due to tidal locking) and (2) its side that faces the Earth is smooth, while the side that remains hidden is jagged.  To those on Earth the Moon appears as an artistic disc that goes through phases in which greater or lesser amounts of the side lit by the sun are visible from Earth.

The Moon is unique in the solar system in its large relative size compared with the [[Earth]].  The Moon appears from the Earth to be the same size as the [[sun]], in perfect artistic symmetry, unlike any known other planet-moon system.  Moreover, unlike most planets in the [[solar system]], [[Earth]] has only one moon. And the Moon has two more remarkable artistic attributes: (1) it rotates and revolves in a way such that only one side is ever visible to the Earth (due to tidal locking) and (2) its side that faces the Earth is smooth, while the side that remains hidden is jagged.  To those on Earth the Moon appears as an artistic disc that goes through phases in which greater or lesser amounts of the side lit by the sun are visible from Earth.

==The Moon as God's creation==

==The Moon as God's creation==

The Earth's moon has several striking characteristics. To many Christians, these characteristics appear as "clues" or "hints" left by God for men to discover. <ref>http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/0102-1-phase/CALENDARS.htm</ref>   

The Earth's moon has several striking characteristics. To many Christians, these characteristics appear as "clues" or "hints" left by God for men to discover.<ref>http://www.math.nus.edu.sg/aslaksen/gem-projects/hm/0102-1-phase/CALENDARS.htm</ref>   

===Size of its disc===

===Size of its disc===

The Moon appears to have approximately the same size as the [[Sun]] when viewed from Earth.  This creates a unique symmetry and phenomenal [[solar eclipse|solar eclipses]].  

The Moon appears to have approximately the same size as the [[Sun]] when viewed from Earth.  This creates a unique symmetry and phenomenal [[solar eclipse]]s.  

The Moon is just far enough away from the Earth to appear the same size of the Sun. In precise terms, the ratio of the apparent diameter of the Moon to that of the Sun is on average 0.97<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/35/astrodesign.html</ref> with a variation (due almost entirely to the [[orbital eccentricity|eccentricity]] of the Moon's orbit) of roughly ±0.05<ref>http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/moon_ap_per.html</ref>.

The Moon is just far enough away from the Earth to appear the same size of the Sun. In precise terms, the ratio of the apparent diameter of the Moon to that of the Sun is on average 0.97<ref name="creationresearch.org">http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/35/astrodesign.html</ref> with a variation (due almost entirely to the [[orbital eccentricity|eccentricity]] of the Moon's orbit) of roughly ±0.05.<ref>http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/moon_ap_per.html</ref>

Of the known satellites in the [[Solar System]], only three others exhibit the phenomenon of being close in apparent size to the Sun when viewed from their parent planet. These are [[Saturn]]'s moons Prometheus and Epimetheus (with average diameter ratios of 1.03 and 0.95) and [[Uranus]]'s Cordelia (1.08)<ref>http://www.creationresearch.org/crsq/articles/35/astrodesign.html</ref>. Given the figure of approximately 170 known planetary satellites in the Solar System (though the figure regularly increases with new discoveries), this gives as an [[Probability|empirical probability]] for the phenomenon of 4/170 or 2.4%, which is not inconsistent with the theoretical figure.

Of the known satellites in the [[Solar System]], only three others exhibit the phenomenon of being close in apparent size to the Sun when viewed from their parent planet. These are [[Saturn]]'s moons Prometheus and Epimetheus (with average diameter ratios of 1.03 and 0.95) and [[Uranus]]'s Cordelia (1.08).<ref name="creationresearch.org"/> Given the figure of approximately 170 known planetary satellites in the Solar System (though the figure regularly increases with new discoveries), this gives as an [[Probability|empirical probability]] for the phenomenon of 4/170 or 2.4%, which is not inconsistent with the theoretical figure.

It should be noted, however, that by virtue of the planets' distance form the Sun, these eclipses would appear very small in the sky, and would be nothing like as spectacular as a total solar eclipse on Earth.

It should be noted, however, that by virtue of the planets' distance form the Sun, these eclipses would appear very small in the sky, and would be nothing like as spectacular as a total solar eclipse on Earth.

===Rotation and revolution===

===Rotation and revolution===

The Moon presents the same side to [[Earth]] at all times.  That means that the rotation of the Earth offsets the separate effects of lunar revolution. Physical explanations rely on [[tidal locking]], asserting that tidal forces on Earth caused a bulge on the Moon, thereby creating a drag on the rotation of the Moon until the same side always faced the Earth.<ref> The same theory suggested that the planet [[Mercury]] had a similar locked rotation due to gravitational forces from the sun, such that the same side of Mercury always faces the sun. In fact, that is false.  [[Mercury]]'s tidal locking is incomplete and it does not always present the same face to the sun.</ref>  In fact, current tidal forces exerted by the [[Earth]] on the Moon cannot account fully for its bulge or egg shape.<ref>"[http://physics.fortlewis.edu/Astronomy/astronomy%20today/CHAISSON/AT308/HTML/AT30803.HTM Chapter 8, Section 3: The Rotation of the Moon]," "Astronomy Today", Department of Physics, Fort Lewis College, Durango, [[Colorado|CO]]. Accessed February 18, 2008</ref>

The Moon presents the same side to [[Earth]] at all times.  That means that the rotation of the Earth offsets the separate effects of lunar revolution. Physical explanations rely on [[tidal locking]], asserting that tidal forces on Earth caused a bulge on the Moon, thereby creating a drag on the rotation of the Moon until the same side always faced the Earth.<ref>The same theory suggested that the planet [[Mercury]] had a similar locked rotation due to gravitational forces from the sun, such that the same side of Mercury always faces the sun. In fact, that is false.  [[Mercury]]'s tidal locking is incomplete and it does not always present the same face to the sun.</ref>  In fact, current tidal forces exerted by the [[Earth]] on the Moon cannot account fully for its bulge or egg shape.<ref>"[http://physics.fortlewis.edu/Astronomy/astronomy%20today/CHAISSON/AT308/HTML/AT30803.HTM Chapter 8, Section 3: The Rotation of the Moon]," "Astronomy Today", Department of Physics, Fort Lewis College, Durango, [[Colorado|CO]]. Accessed February 18, 2008</ref>

===Lunar origin theories===

===Lunar origin theories===

===Rate of recession===

===Rate of recession===

The Moon currently recedes from the Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches (3.8 cm) per year<ref>NASA [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/ApolloLaser.html Measuring the Moon's Distance], LPI Bulletin, No. 72, August, 1994.</ref>, and is believed by [[atheist]]ic scientists to be 4.6 billion years old,<ref>NASA, [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-15-2.html Apollo Expeditions to the Moon], Chapter 15.2.</ref><!--> but that is contradicted by an extrapolation backwards in time using its observed rate of recession.{{fact}}<!--><br />The Moon could never have been closer than about 11,000 miles or it would have been broken up by tidal forces.<ref name="js">Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/764/ The moon: the light that rules the night], ''Creation'' 20(4):36–39, September 1998.</ref><br />If the rate of recession stayed constant at 3.8 cm per year, it would take 9.6 billion years for the lunar distance to migrate from 11,000 miles to the present distance of about 240,000 miles. However these assumptions are very inaccurate as the rate of recession would definitely not be constant over the past 4 billion years. <br />

The Moon currently recedes from the Earth at a rate of 1.5 inches (3.8&nbsp;cm) per year,<ref>NASA [http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/SEhelp/ApolloLaser.html Measuring the Moon's Distance], LPI Bulletin, No. 72, August, 1994.</ref> and is believed by [[atheist]]ic scientists to be 4.6 billion years old,<ref>NASA, [http://history.nasa.gov/SP-350/ch-15-2.html Apollo Expeditions to the Moon], Chapter 15.2.</ref><!--> but that is contradicted by an extrapolation backwards in time using its observed rate of recession.{{fact}}<!--><br />The Moon could never have been closer than about 11,000 miles or it would have been broken up by tidal forces.<ref name="js">Sarfati, Jonathan, [http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/764/ The moon: the light that rules the night], ''Creation'' 20(4):36–39, September 1998.</ref><br />If the rate of recession stayed constant at 3.8&nbsp;cm per year, it would take 9.6 billion years for the lunar distance to migrate from 11,000 miles to the present distance of about 240,000 miles. However these assumptions are very inaccurate as the rate of recession would definitely not be constant over the past 4 billion years. <br />

===Impact craters===

===Impact craters===

===Creationist models===

===Creationist models===

Danny Faulkner of the [[Institute for Creation Research]] has observed that many of the lunar maria contain ''ghost craters'', or craters that the lava flow that produced the maria seem to have filled only partially. In the [[deep time]] scale required by [[uniformitarianism]], the ghost craters are the result of impacts that occurred as much as half a gigayear before the crust-fracturing impacts that caused the lava flows.<ref name=Henderson>Henderson, Thomas H. "[http://www.hal-pc.org/~tom/HeavyCratering.html Do heavily cratered planets and moons demand an old age for the solar system]?" ''Tom Henderson's Creation Resources'', July 25, 2003. Accessed March 25, 2008.</ref> This is not a reasonable assumption, because any impact strong enough to crack the crust should have obliterated any craters previously extant. Faulkner thus concludes that the impacts that formed the ghost craters, and those that let loose the lava flows that formed the maria, occurred within days of one another<ref name=Faulkner1>Faulkner, Danny. "[http://www.icr.org/research/index/researchp_df_r01/ The Current State of Creation Astronomy]." ''Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Creationism,'' Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburgh, pp. 201–216, August 3-8, 1998. Hosted at ''[[Institute for Creation Research]].'' Accessed March 25, 2008.</ref> and were probably part of at least one system-wide catastrophe involving a narrow stream of meteoroids and/or comets that delivered a concentrated bombardment of the Earth and Moon in a short interval.<ref name=Faulkner2>Faulkner, Danny. "[http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1637 A Biblically-based cratering theory]." ''Technical Journal'' (now ''Journal of Creation''), 13(1):100-104, April 1999.</ref>

Danny Faulkner of the [[Institute for Creation Research]] has observed that many of the lunar maria contain ''ghost craters'', or craters that the lava flow that produced the maria seem to have filled only partially. In the [[deep time]] scale required by [[uniformitarianism]], the ghost craters are the result of impacts that occurred as much as half a gigayear before the crust-fracturing impacts that caused the lava flows.<ref name=Henderson>Henderson, Thomas H. "[http://www.hal-pc.org/~tom/HeavyCratering.html Do heavily cratered planets and moons demand an old age for the solar system]?" ''Tom Henderson's Creation Resources'', July 25, 2003. Accessed March 25, 2008.</ref> This is not a reasonable assumption, because any impact strong enough to crack the crust should have obliterated any craters previously extant. Faulkner thus concludes that the impacts that formed the ghost craters, and those that let loose the lava flows that formed the maria, occurred within days of one another<ref name=Faulkner1>Faulkner, Danny. "[http://www.icr.org/research/index/researchp_df_r01/ The Current State of Creation Astronomy]." ''Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Creationism,'' Creation Science Fellowship, Pittsburgh, pp. 201–216, August 3–8, 1998. Hosted at ''[[Institute for Creation Research]].'' Accessed March 25, 2008.</ref> and were probably part of at least one system-wide catastrophe involving a narrow stream of meteoroids and/or comets that delivered a concentrated bombardment of the Earth and Moon in a short interval.<ref name=Faulkner2>Faulkner, Danny. "[http://creationontheweb.com/content/view/1637 A Biblically-based cratering theory]." ''Technical Journal'' (now ''Journal of Creation''), 13(1):100-104, April 1999.</ref>

Faulkner assumes that this system-wide catastrophe occurred during the year of the [[Great Flood]]. But in 1984, Russell Humphreys, then at the Sandia National Laboratories, developed evidence suggesting different dates entirely. Specifically, the [[Project Apollo]] exploration teams brought back many samples of [[basalt]] (an [[igneous rock]]) and [[brecchia]] (pulverized meteor-impact remains). Geologists analyzed both types of samples and found evidence that each type of rock had once been in a magnetic field far more powerful than that which the Moon has today. Using his model for the creation and decay of magnetic fields<ref name=Humphreys/>, Humphreys determined that the basalt had been laid down about 370 years after creation, and the brecchia had been laid down 1840 years after creation, or about 190 years after the Flood.<ref name=Humphreys2>Humphreys reasoned that the higher the magnetic dipole moment of the samples, the earlier in lunar history they were formed.</ref> These findings clearly suggest that the Moon, and presumably all other bodies in the solar system, have been subject to two separate system-wide bombardments, one occurring in the second or third generation after the [[fall of man]] and the other occurring well after the Flood.

Faulkner assumes that this system-wide catastrophe occurred during the year of the [[Great Flood]]. But in 1984, Russell Humphreys, then at the Sandia National Laboratories, developed evidence suggesting different dates entirely. Specifically, the [[Project Apollo]] exploration teams brought back many samples of [[basalt]] (an [[igneous rock]]) and [[brecchia]] (pulverized meteor-impact remains). Geologists analyzed both types of samples and found evidence that each type of rock had once been in a magnetic field far more powerful than that which the Moon has today. Using his model for the creation and decay of magnetic fields,<ref name=Humphreys/> Humphreys determined that the basalt had been laid down about 370 years after creation, and the brecchia had been laid down 1840 years after creation, or about 190 years after the Flood.<ref name=Humphreys2>Humphreys reasoned that the higher the magnetic dipole moment of the samples, the earlier in lunar history they were formed.</ref> These findings clearly suggest that the Moon, and presumably all other bodies in the solar system, have been subject to two separate system-wide bombardments, one occurring in the second or third generation after the [[fall of man]] and the other occurring well after the Flood.

==Tides==

==Tides==

==Earthshine==

==Earthshine==

[[image:oldmooninnew.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The "old Moon in the new Moon's arms"]]

[[image:oldmooninnew.jpg|200px|right|thumb|The "old Moon in the new Moon's arms"]]

In the old Scottish ballad ''Sir Patrick Spens''<ref>Child, Francis James (1860), ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,'' [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch058.htm No. 58]; the ballad is thought to refer to an actual event of the year A.D. 1290.</ref>, a sailor cautions:

In the old Scottish ballad ''Sir Patrick Spens'',<ref>Child, Francis James (1860), ''The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,'' [http://www.sacred-texts.com/neu/eng/child/ch058.htm No. 58]; the ballad is thought to refer to an actual event of the year A.D. 1290.</ref> a sailor cautions:

:"I saw the new moon late yestreen

:"I saw the new moon late yestreen

"The Old Moon in the New Moon's Arms" is the title of a poem by [[Ella Wheeler Wilcox]], in which she interprets the effect as the New Moon wishing that her lost love, the Old Moon, be in her arms one last time; Venus grants the wish, and:

"The Old Moon in the New Moon's Arms" is the title of a poem by [[Ella Wheeler Wilcox]], in which she interprets the effect as the New Moon wishing that her lost love, the Old Moon, be in her arms one last time; Venus grants the wish, and:

:Swift thro' the vapors and the golden mist&mdash;<br>

:Swift thro' the vapors and the golden mist&mdash;

::The Full Moon's shadowy shape shone on the night,<br>

::The Full Moon's shadowy shape shone on the night,

:The New Moon reached out clasping arms and kissed<br>

:The New Moon reached out clasping arms and kissed

::Her phantom lover in the whole world's sight.<br>

::Her phantom lover in the whole world's sight.

== Other moons ==

== Other moons ==

== Symbolic importance in Islam ==

== Symbolic importance in Islam ==

The crescent moon is an internationally recognized symbol of [[Islam]].  It appears on the flags of several Islamic nations.  It also forms part of the official emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. <ref>http://islam.about.com/od/history/a/crescent_moon.htm</ref>

The crescent moon is an internationally recognized symbol of [[Islam]].  It appears on the flags of several Islamic nations.  It also forms part of the official emblems of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.<ref>http://islam.about.com/od/history/a/crescent_moon.htm</ref>

== See also ==

== See also ==