If you missed Sunday night's "supermoon" in the sky, then you probably saw it on one of your many social media feeds. The large and bright full moon is the second "supermoon" sighting of the summer (there's one more on the way next month), but don't mistake it for a supernatural phenomenon: as National Geographic notes, "the astronomical community prefers to use the term 'perigee full moon,' and point out that they are not all that rare since the alignment between a full moon phase with perigee occurs every year."
So, of course, we couldn't miss this opportunity to join the trending conversation!
1. Did you know, according to NASA: "If the sun were as tall as a typical front door, Earth would be the size of a nickel and the moon would [be] the size of a green pea."
2. If the first step on the moon was "one giant leap for mankind," then Google has taken an even bigger jump from there: Google has teamed up with scientists at the NASA Ames Research Center for a new interactive project featuring lunar maps, charts, photos, and more.
3. The moon has provided inspiration for many songwriters, from Beethoven ("Moonlight Sonata") to Sinatra ("Fly Me To the Moon"). And it's not just English, of course--take a listen to "Luna Nueva" by Carlos Vives:
4. It's hard to separate a full moon nowadays from folk legend (and popular culture!) lore: werewolves! The origins of where werewolves come from are up for debate, but one thing's for sure: the legend pre-dates Twilight...
5. There's a man on the moon! Kind of. What we see from Earth that looks like a face are the millions of craters on the moon's surface. These lunar pits range from five meters across to more than 900 meters in diameter.
So when you look up into the sky and see a face, don't be too alarmed...
