My Daily Bread Crumbs 01 Oct 2022

International Observe the Moon Night (InOMN) is an annual celebration of our closest celestial neighbor - the Moon. The date of the unofficial holiday changes every year.

InOMN is led by scientists, astronomers, teachers, policy makers and science and astronomy organizations around the world and is sponsored by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA's Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI), and the Lunar and Planetary Institute. The holiday is an attempt to spread scientific information about the Moon among the public, and encourage people to learn more about Earth's only natural satellite through observing it and by interacting with lunar experts.

Mysterious Origins

Thought to be between 4 to 4.5 billion years old, the Moon's birth is a bit of mystery. The current prevailing scientific theory of its creation suggests that it was formed as a result of a collision between the Earth and another planet, the size of Mars.

The second brightest celestial objects in our sky, next only to the Sun, the Moon has been instrumental in creating the world as we know it today. Without the Moon, The Earth and life would be very different. The nights would be much darker, tides would be fewer and smaller, and the Earth's axial tilt would be less stable. And we would have no eclipse – solar or lunar.

Capturing Imaginations

Throughout history, the Moon has captured the imagination of people around the world. Since antiquity, astronomers, philosophers, spiritualists and religious leaders have all tried to understand and explain the mechanism of day and night, the Moon's phases and lunar eclipses. In addition to helping keep time, the Moon was worshipped as a deity in many ancient cultures. Even today, lunar phenomena such as Blue Moons, Supermoons, Micro Full Moons and Black Moons are popular astronomical events that gather extensive public interest.

Basis of Calendars

In many parts of the world, lunar or lunisolar calendars are still used to determine dates of cultural and religious holidays. Lunar calendars, such as the Islamic calendar, are strictly based on the phases of the Moon. Because the lunar year (354.35 days) is shorter than the solar or tropical year (365.25) by about 11 days, lunar calendars tend to be out of sync with solar calendars such as the Gregorian calendar and the Julian calendar.

Lunisolar calendars, such as the Chinese calendar or Hindu calendars used in many parts of India, use both moon phases and the solar year to overcome this drift.

How to Celebrate?

This one's simple. Just step out and look up the sky to behold the wonder of the Moon. Here are some more ways to spend this celestial holiday:

Find an Observe the Moon night event close to you and attend it.
Join other astronomy and lunar enthusiasts and spend the evening and night observing the Moon.
Spend the day learning more about the Moon and how it affects life on Earth.

Did You Know...

...that a person's weight on the Moon is about 1/6 of his or her weight on Earth?

International Observe the Moon Night Observances

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“What are you doing?” asked my mother after I pressed several  buttons on her microwave.

“Reheating these leftovers for two minutes at 80 percent.”

“I didn’t know you could do that.”

“Sure. How do you reheat bacon?”

“Oh,” she said, “that’s two biscuits and a popcorn.”

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My friend forgot his laptop on the floor of my room. My grandma thought it was a scale.

 Conclusion: My grandma weighs $950.

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Take heed, scientists: Not every scientific advancement is Nobel Prize worthy. Some must lay claim to an Ig Nobel Prize, awarded by the Annals of Improbable Research magazine:

The Prize for Physiology went to the report "No Evidence of Contagious Yawning in the Red-Footed Tortoise."

The Prize for Medicine went to a study that demonstrates that people make better decisions about some kinds of things — but worse decisions about other kinds of things — when they have a strong urge to urinate.

The Prize for Biology went to the discovery that a particular kind of beetle mates with a particular kind of Australian beer bottle.

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A husband and wife had been married for 60 years and had no  secrets except for one: The woman kept in her closet a shoe box that  she forbade her husband from ever opening. But when she was on her deathbed—and with her blessing—he opened the box and found a  crocheted doll and $95,000 in cash.

“My mother told me that the secret to a happy marriage was to never  argue,” she explained.

“Instead, I should keep quiet and crochet a doll.”

Her husband was touched. Only one doll was in the box—that meant she’d been angry with him only once in 60 years.

“But what about all this money?” he asked.

“Oh,” she said, “that’s the money  I made from selling the dolls.”