How to look at the Moon – Studies in Visual Cultures

Full Moon photograph taken on 10-22-2010. Photographed with a Canon T1i on a Celestron 9.25 telescope, 20 images stacked to reduce noise. 200 ISO f1/640.

What we know as the moon makes Earth a habitable planet for humans and acts as a shield to stable our climate. It is a large round object in our night sky that gives out a bright light and causes tides, which produces a flow that has guided humans for many years. What we recognize as the blood-red harvest moon of autumn, the chalk-white moon of December or the tender-golden moon of summer object that just appears above us in our night sky.

Have you ever looked up and wondered if there’s any life on the moon? Why it always looks so dull and grey? Perhaps looking a bit lifeless? Because there is no water on the moon, there actually can’t be any life. On the moon there is no water, everything is dry covered with rubble pile of charcoal-gray, powdery dust and rocky debris fromdead volcanoes. Almost looks like a slice of cheese from our view on earth because of the asteroids and meteorites that left detail imprints on its surface.

The moon looks very simple, yet one can argue with how complex it’s purpose can be. It’s a large rocky object up high in the sky reflecting the light given off by the sun giving light to the world when we look above our windows every night at it. Many people don’t attempt to figure out what the moons real purpose is and as a result they don’t know how it gives off its shine. Although the moon is very visible in our night sky because of how bright it is it’s not actually all its own light. The light from the sun is actually reflected. We don’t always see the moon as a round and bold shaped object, yet sometimes we see half of a moon, a quarter or a full moon. As a result, the sun is lighting different parts of it. Although the moon reflects some light off the sun, the temperature on the surface of the moon is always cold and the sky remains black day and night. In fact, when the moon moves past the earths shadow and the earth draws right in the middle of the sun and a full moon, a lunar eclipse is formed.

The moon is an extremely different world compared to planet Earth. It’s made of completely different layers with different structures to it. Studies have shown us that there are different layers within the moon. At the moon’s center, the largest materials have caved down and the delicate materials have made it’s way to the outermost layer. The metallic core lies at the center of the moon and it’s mainly made of iron and some nickel.The outer core made from liquid, and the inner core being solid.

There are many misconceptions about the moon. One large one is that people say that you can only see the moon at night, which is not true. In reality, there are some days where you can actually view the moon during the day. Not a full moon, but instead you will see a quarter or half moon. Think of it next time you look up at the sky.

Work Cited

Elkins, James. How to Use Your Eyes. Routledge, 2000.

“Misconceptions.” NASA. NASA, 6 Oct. 2017. Web. 29 Jan. 2020.

“Overview.” NASA, NASA, solarsystem.nasa.gov/moons/earths-moon/overview/.

Images in this online exhibit are either in the public domain or being used under fair dealing for the purpose of research and are provided solely for the purposes of research, private study, or education.