The Moon Science...

The Moon - Earth's only natural satellite has always fascinated the human being. The mythical stories that we have been hearing from our childhood where Moon has been thought of as an Uncle, (Male) or as a beauty (various goddesses in various cultures across the world), or even as some big delicious food items like a Pappadam (or Papad) or a dosa or other popular items. In India, moon has always helped mothers to feed their reluctant children with stories and songs and lullabies around moon and its charm. 

One of the beautiful celestial events that have always fascinated us has been the lunar eclipse. Again, there are several stories and mythical events built around how a lunar eclipse happens and ancient cultures thought that the lunar eclipse - or for that matter any eclipse - also solar eclipse - was a bad omen. Cultures around the world have strange traditions built around the eclipses.

Times have changed. Now we have sent several probes and even human beings to our nearest celestial body. Now we know a lot more about the moon than our ancestors did. Now we know that moon is just another tiny planet which goes around our earth and that it gets its lights and shades from our own light source which is the Sun. The Sun along with its other planets, their moons, even smaller celestial bodies called exp-planets make what we now call as the Solar System. A tiny family of planets and their moons revolving round the little star which is the Sun.

Interestingly, even in this 21st century, a lot of people are still reluctant to shred their belief systems that revolve around the eclipses. Many still are comfortable in believing that the eclipses have much severe negative impacts on our health, the food, the life forms etc. Many people still think, one could not observe the eclipses or travel or eat or drink anything during an eclipse. Anyway, it may still take more time for people to come out of their safe comfort zones and as religion and its strong linkages loosen further with more education, scientific information being reached to the common man, before such superstitions are done away with.

Anyhow, another lunar eclipse is coming. A super moon which would be about 14% bigger than the normal moon we see (since the moon is a bit closer to the earth due to its elliptical orbit) and a red moon (some times also called copper moon or blood moon -see the different terms used - though it has nothing to do with either copper or blood) on the 31st January 2018. Some also call it as a Blue moon as it is the second full moon day in the same month of January 2018 which is again some what rare and hence called as a blue moon - as used in the literary sense where we say once in a blue moon - meaning happens only once in a while. But this is also not very correct.  Two full moons in a single month happens quite often - something like once in every 2.5 years or so, but may be because all such moons we may not see..

Anyway, dont miss out the opportunity to watch the lunar eclipse of 31st January 2018 as it would be a beautiful event with the red coloured moon rising just after about 6 pm that day. Do watch it and continue to wonder about the beauty of the universe, being part of an infinite universe, how each of us are not even a dust particle size compared to the vastness of the universe. How short lived we are, and how we due to our ignorance and arrogance, are destroying our own home, the Earth.. Keep appreciating and wondering and start respecting our infinitesimally tiny life spans and how we can come together and cultivate peace, love, friendship and all good things..