Denise Covey is hosting Write...Edit...Publish, a monthly bloghop (details here). November's theme is "sharing." Alas, I have no story to offer all of you this month. However, pondering the theme led me in some very interesting directions which I hope will bear fruit in the long run. I started a story but it definitely needs some time and may fit December's theme of "traditions" much better. Don't run off just yet, though. I shall not leave you empty-handed, fellow travelers. I will happily share some of my discoveries. Some of you smart people probably already knew all of this but much of it is new to me.
Be sure to visit the other participants as well. The link list is at the end of my post.
Moons
A variety of inspirations and explorations has sparked an interest in moons. Let us begin with our own lunar satellite, Earth's steady date for the great cosmic cocktail party. Our Moon is not the largest in the Solar System but it is the largest relative to its planet at 1/81 the mass of Earth.
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| via NASA |
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| via Wikipedia |
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| via Wikipedia |
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I didn't know these things, though I have a feeling I might've heard some of them before and promptly forgotten them. Fact is, I am FASCINATED by the sky and should have been an astronomer (if only I didn't totally suck at maths).
ReplyDeleteMy favourite planet is Neptune, just 'cause of its massively awesome colour. ;)
Neptune is beautiful. I've always loved the name, too. Of all the Greek/Roman gods, Poseidon/Neptune may be my favorite.
DeleteThinking of moons supporting life, reminds me of the moon of endor.
ReplyDeleteMe, too! Lucas is big on moons. Roddenberry, not so much. More on this next Friday...
DeleteAnd the rebel base in ANH was on a moon as well.
DeleteYavin 4! You've cleverly uncovered one of the paths that brought me to this point. Again, more next Friday.
DeleteMoons can be very interesting. They do more then just provide light.
ReplyDeleteMost definitely! Without our Moon's effects on the tides, life on Earth would have developed very differently.
DeleteWow. These pics are amazing. I was writing a science fiction series that took place in one solar system and terraformed moons. The most fun part was researching ancient mythology for names. I should dig that thing up some time.
ReplyDeleteI definitely see moons as good storytelling fodder. I'd be interested to know more about your tales, Maurice.
DeleteHi, I like the name Ganymede, much nicer than just moon, such a plain name for something so pretty. May I also say I love the pen-name?
ReplyDeleteI don't know. I think Moon is a lovely word. It's a word that sings very easily. However, Luna is definitely better.
DeleteI've always been interested in the moon. And why we don't mine it for its cheese.
ReplyDeleteSuddenly, Wallace and Gromit have just popped up in my brain!
DeleteOh, I love anything that has to do with space: planets, stars, moons. It is fascinating and the pictures are always breathtaking. Europa is beautiful! Thank you so much for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI do have wistful moments when I wish I'd gone into astronomy...
DeleteOh well, music's fun, too.
I'd love to have the time to follow this subject further but thank you for these interesting facts and pictures. The moon is always quite mysterious.
ReplyDeleteI promise, I'll bring the subject up again soon.
DeleteGreat pictures and wonderful information - Who doesn't like a moon - so inspirational - whether ours or another planets. The imagination as big as the universe, with so many more stories to be written and truth yet to be discovered.
ReplyDeleteYes, indeed. Thanks, Yolanda.
DeleteThis was a fun entry. I'm old enough to remember the first landing on the moon, and I still pull out my old Life magazines and look them over once in a while.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a big week for important shared moments in human history. So many of them - Kennedy's assassination, Pearl Harbor, 9/11 - are about horrible things. The Moon landing is one of the happiest ones.
DeleteOh, one of these days people will be planet hopping with the greatest of ease. Our world will have become too small to contain our imaginations.
ReplyDeleteThe cosmos have provided fuel for the imagination for millennia and I'm sure that will always be the case. Still, there's plenty to explore down here and, most mysterious of all, within ourselves.
DeleteGreat photos. Makes me think about how big our universe is and how little I know about it.
ReplyDeleteI agree and, to tell you the truth, I find it surprisingly comforting. What I know is far and immeasurably outweighed by what I don't know. So, I should really just relax.
DeleteRight now I'm reading Samuel Delaney's novel Triton, which contains some interesting insights about how human culture might diverge in the future between people who live on planets and people who live on moons.
ReplyDeleteThis sounds like a must-read given the direction my brain is currently headed. Thanks for letting me know about it.
DeleteTitan is the one most writers seem to gravitate towards, for when we put up our first outpost station. I think probably because of the stunning view of Saturn's rings. :)
ReplyDeleteThe standing bodies of liquid are pretty exciting, too. There are some wonderful artist renderings of the view of Saturn from Titan.
DeleteSince I read Vonnegut's "Sirens Of Titan", I have been enamored of that moon. But now we find its lakes are bodies of liquid ethane and methane. Can you imagine what would happen if an astronaut dropped a lit cigarette there? Oh my! Wait, maybe there's no oxygen --that would help.
ReplyDeleteI love Vonnegut but I haven't read that one. As with Cyg's suggestion, I think I need to add this to my list.
DeleteReally, there'd be enough problems with an astronaut lighting up in the confinement of a spacecraft. That, at least, seems to be one area where the human race is gradually advancing.
The entire known visible universe accounts for only a fraction of reality. If only we could truly explore whats out there.
ReplyDeleteWe'll get there, Spacerguy. But as you know, we need to get our act together down here first. Then maybe the Vulcans will grace us with a visit.
DeleteToo bad NASA is getting some budget cuts, space exploration is so wonderful.
ReplyDeleteEverything about atronomy is amazing but other than the unfathomable distance between our blue planet and the moon; it's baffling to think that everybody who ever lived on this planet since the beginning of time would look up in the sky and see the exact same moon we ourselves see at night.
Yup. And not just the same moon, the same FACE of the same moon.
DeleteI've always been fascinated with Europa and its oceans... NASA's announcements in recent years, about life in the oceans of Europa, made me very happy. Great photos!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vesper!
DeleteMoons are amazing. I don't know if you have been to M. Pax's blog. She volunteers at an astrological sight every summer and shares what she learns. She is also an accomplished sci/fi writer.
ReplyDeleteNancy
Oh yes, I know M Pax. We met through A-Z a few years back.
DeleteVery interesting info.
ReplyDeleteThe moon holds a special place in my musical heart. My favourite songs have to do with the moon... Moon River, Fly Me To The Moon, How High The Moon... and there are a few other songs involving heavenly bodies...
It makes me think that there's a universe out there which is vast and endless, and our presence is just like a blip on the radar... really fascinating...
Yes, many great moon songs: "Moondance," "Blue Moon," "Moonlight in Vermont" and, my personal favorite, "Moonshadow."
DeleteI forgot to mention Moonlight Serenade!
DeleteAnd Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata... such a beautiful and haunting piece...
Oh, I like this game! Here are some more:
Delete"Bad Moon Rising"
"Harvest Moon"
"Pink Moon"
Then there's "Eclipse" from, of course, Dark Side of the Moon.
Gosh, how on earth could I forget CCR Bad Moon Rising - a classic!
DeleteThere's also Have You Ever Seen The Rain (we could go into songs about the rain...LOL)
Under The Moon Of Love - Showaddyaddy?
Can't Fight The Moonlight - Lee-Ann Rimes?
Have a great weekend!
A little French? "Au Clair de la Lune."
DeleteYou, too, Michelle!
It certainly would be interesting and perhaps indicative that life is more common than we think.
ReplyDelete