Insights What Can You Learn About the Moon?

[Greg Bernhardt]

Greg Bernhardt submitted a new PF Insights post

The Moon Quiz

Continue reading the Original PF Insights Post.

 

[Charles Link]

I got 4 correct out of 12. In question 3, I thought the moon has no atmosphere. A very interesting quiz, but not an easy one. Thank you Greg.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I thought the moon has no atmosphere

https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LADEE/news/lunar-atmosphere.html#.VyuYyPmDFBc

 

[DiracPool]

2/12, I hate the moon, now

 

[Hornbein]

I gave up in the middle.

 

[Bran]

I managed 6 / 12 ... you asked some very good questions!

 

[krater]

That's a tough quiz. I got 3 and 5.

 

[Leesa Johnson]

Knowing about the moon is good to us because many things are related with the moon like existence of tides etc.

 

[QuantumQuest]

12 out of 12. I really like Astronomy!

 

[Filip Larsen]

7 out of 12. Went for the missing atmosphere (nice one, Greg) but recovered a bit on the space mission questions.

 

[Lisa!]

8/12

 

[Ibix]

8, with some lucky guesses.

 

[rachiey]

astronomy teaches the correct use of the sun and the planets

 

[Hernik]

6, with two pure luck hits.

 

[mfb]

@Greg Bernhardt:

The moon is the second-densest body in the solar system, beaten by Jupiter’s moon ____

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are denser. Vesta is a bit denser. Io is denser. Various small particles should have a higher density.

4 total lunar eclipses that happen in a row is called

4 total lunar eclipses in a row are impossible. "Blood moon" is just a simple lunar eclipse, or four full moons in a season. Either or, not both.

 

[PeterDonis]

10 out of 12, made a wrong guess on how many moons fit inside the Earth (should have calculated it in my head), and I had no idea what a Blood Moon was but I don't consider that a matter of physics anyway.

 

[PeterDonis]

Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars are denser. Vesta is a bit denser.

I think a better wording for question 10 would be that the moon is the second densest satellite in the solar system.

 

[mfb]

The second densest moon?

Oh, and various artificial satellites are denser than the Moon.

Got China, the night launch and the sun/eclipsing moon wrong. And the two questions that didn't have a right answer.

 

[Greg Bernhardt]

I think a better wording for question 10 would be that the moon is the second densest satellite in the solar system.

ah yes that is what it is
http://www.universetoday.com/20601/density-of-the-moon/

4 total lunar eclipses in a row are impossible.

Did I read wrong?
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/blood-moon.html

 

[mfb]

Did I read wrong?
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/blood-moon.html

No, it is wrong in the source.

Edit: Wait, they use 6 months as spacing between the full eclipses. That is weird. I would certainly not call that "in a row".

 

[davenn]

9 out of 12

10 out of 12, made a wrong guess on how many moons fit inside the Earth (should have calculated it in my head), and I had no idea what a Blood Moon was but I don't consider that a matter of physics anyway.

yeah me too,

I chose 42 instead of 49 ... reading/watching too much Hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy hahaha

Did I read wrong?
http://www.timeanddate.com/eclipse/blood-moon.html

we have just been through a 4 eclipse blood mood set. This set of 4 is called a Tetrad
two total eclipses in a year, two years in a row

The first happened on April 15, 2014 and the second on October 8, 2014.
The third blood moon on Saturday April 4, 2015. The last on September 28, 2015
The eclipses in a tetrad occur 6 months apart with at least 6 full Moons between them.Dave

 

[Fewmet]

I got 8 correct. Having a father who worked on building the lunar module helped a lot, although I screwed up the first test of of the LM. I am surprised by the 49 moons fitting in Earth.

 

[beamie564]

I got 12 on my second try. Does that count? :p

 

[rootone]

My score was 4. no cheating by googling before doing it
At least I was pretty much certain on the ones I got right.

 

[rollete]

4. Meh..

 

[D H]

Edit: Wait, they use 6 months as spacing between the full eclipses. That is weird. I would certainly not call that "in a row".

Whet they mean is that there are no intervening partial or penumbral lunar eclipses. Greg has this one right.

I do have to quibble about question #3. When people say that the Moon does have an atmosphere, what they mean is that the Moon has an exceeding low density exoatmosphere, with a surface atmospheric density on the Moon about 10^-13 times that of the density of the Earth's atmosphere at the surface. When people say the Moon does not have a global magnetic field, what they mean the the Moon's dipole moment is less than 10^-5 times that of the Earth's. There is no way to say that the Moon has no global magnetic field. The best we can say is that the Moon's global magnetic field, if it exists, is less than measurement noise. Measurement noise for magnetic field strength relative to that of the Earth is many orders of magnitude larger than is the measurement noise for particles of gas relative to that of the Earth standard atmosphere.

 

[Fewmet]

Did you hear about the restaurant on Moon? Great food, but no atmosphere.

 

[EnumaElish]

"Congratulations – you have completed The Moon Quiz. You scored 4 points out of 12 points total."

 

[alva3]

8/12; learn something new every day!