HAPPY St Paddy's day to all my Earthbound friends! I've managed to find the Flybrary's bar & am saluting all of you with a pint of green beer. Have a gander at my Twitter feed for an amazing view of the Emerald Isle from space courtesy of NASA's Earth Observatory (which, awesomely, is abbreviated as "EO").
Speaking of amazing views, the Starship Flybrary just passed the Moon on its way to the edge of our solar system. The observatory deck was the perfect place to take an up-close look at the white satellite! I'll help you get an idea of where I was: where a real blue whale normally has a mouth full of baleen plates, our spaceworthy blue whale has thick glass that runs right 'round from the starboard side through the bow to port side for a stunning, nearly panoramic view of outer space.
Sometimes, when I think back to how it all started, I like to think of the Moon as Earth's chipper secretary. In reality, the Moon was a protoplanet that smacked violently into Earth's side, tearing a chunk out of our young planet's matter & taking it as its own.
It's much nicer to think of a nervous Moon showing up 15 minutes early for a job interview, anxious & probably frightened to death, only to have its dreams come true as the gruff but loveable Earth hired it on the spot. That chunk of Earth the Moon took wasn't cosmic theft, it was a bunch of files, papers & other grunt work the Earth was simply too busy to handle.
They've got a great workplace relationship going now. The Moon helped pull the Earth's tides about, allowing plants time to put down roots & contribute to plate formation; it also works continuously to regulate the Earth's rotation. If Earth were to spin too quickly, our jet streams would stabilize, leaving some swathes of Earth drenched & others bone dry; if Earth were to spin too slowly, our days would be boiling hot & our nights freezing cold.
Thanks, Moon! If you keep up the good work I'm sure you'll be headed for an outstanding employee performance review!
PS Interesting fact: European men used to believe in the Middle Ages / Renaissance that women's "humours" were linked directly to the moon. Their logic: women lost their minds once a month when their... "lady time" came around, just like the moon waxes & wanes on a near-monthly cycle. Luna meaning moon, then Latin lunaticus "moon-struck", & finally Old French lunatique, "insane".
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