00:00The Moon is rusting, and chances are it's happening because of Earth.
00:05You'd say that since they're more than 230,000 miles apart,
00:09they can hardly directly influence each other in such a way,
00:13but they do actually have a special connection.
00:17The Moon affects our home planet as well,
00:20and you can see it while observing ocean tides.
00:23As Earth rotates, the Moon's gravitational force
00:26pulls the water on the nearest side of Earth.
00:29It creates a bulge.
00:31At the same time, another bulge forms on the opposite side
00:35because our planet rotates and it causes a centrifugal force.
00:39And then, the planet continues to rotate underneath these bulges,
00:44which is why we have two low and two high tides every day.
00:49Plus, the Moon wobbles every now and then,
00:52tilts more or less, and causes changes in ocean tides.
00:56And in return, Earth's atmosphere is making our satellite rusty.
01:01Rust is that reddish substance you see on old gates or nails.
01:05Oh, and you know Vermilion Cliffs and the Grand Canyon?
01:08They also have that specific red color thanks to rusty iron in the rocks.
01:14It forms when iron reacts with oxygen and water.
01:18Rust is common even on Mars.
01:20The planet's trademark color comes from the rust
01:23that's been there for a very long time.
01:25That's how the red planet got its nickname in the first place.
01:28Normally, you wouldn't say the Moon is a place that would rust that easily
01:32since it's dry and doesn't really have an atmosphere.
01:35But a spacecraft studied the Moon back in 2008
01:39and detected spectra, wavelengths of light,
01:42that were reflecting off different surfaces of the Moon.
01:45That's why it could analyze the lunar surface better.
01:48The data it brought showed that the lunar poles
01:51had different compositions than the rest of the Moon.
01:54They had rocks that contained a lot of hematite.
01:58That's a specific type of iron oxide, or simply rust.
02:03No one expected that because there shouldn't be so much rust on the Moon
02:07considering the conditions there.
02:09But we know that there's some water up there on the surface of our satellite.
02:14That's why a few new theories popped out
02:16about different materials the Moon could be hiding.
02:19It's possible that they formed because water had reacted with the rocks.
02:24For iron to get this rusty hue, it needs something we call an oxidizer.
02:29That's a molecule that removes electrons from materials like iron, such as oxygen.
02:34But the solar wind keeps hitting the Moon all the time,
02:38and it brings hydrogen with it.
02:40And hydrogen has the opposite effect.
02:43It gives electrons to other molecules.
02:45Earth has its shield from the solar wind.
02:49But the Moon doesn't have such protection,
02:51and because of that, rust shouldn't be able to form on its surface.
02:55But this process still happens, and it could be Earth's fault.
03:00The Moon itself doesn't have an atmosphere
03:03that could provide enough oxygen for iron to rust.
03:06But apparently, our planet is generous enough
03:09to donate some of its own atmosphere.
03:12The oxygen from our atmosphere travels all the way to the Moon
03:16following something called magnetotail.
03:19That's a long extension of Earth's magnetic field,
03:22which can reach the near side of the Moon.
03:25That's exactly where most of the hematite was found.
03:29And during a full Moon, the magnetotail blocks 99% of the solar wind,
03:34which would normally influence the Moon more.
03:37It's like there's a temporary curtain over its surface,
03:40which gives enough time for rust to form.
03:43But there's still one important thing necessary for the appearance of rust.
03:47Water.
03:49It's not like you can find water that easily
03:51if you decide to take a walk across the Moon.
03:54Most of it is frozen and hidden in areas that always remain in cold shadows.
03:59Those spots are far away from where most of the hematite was discovered,
04:04so it's hard to tell how the water got there.
04:07But there's an interesting idea.
04:10Those dust particles that hit the Moon
04:12might be freeing free molecules of water
04:15that are locked in the surface layer of the satellite.
04:18This is how water ends up mixed with iron.
04:21We don't know exactly what these dust particles consist of.
04:24They might be carrying some water too.
04:27As they hit the lunar surface, this might create heat,
04:30which boosts the oxidation process, and more rust forms.
04:34So, our planet does certain things that change the Moon,
04:38but humans do the same.
04:40A probe that landed on the lunar surface back in 1959
04:44was the first human-made object that touched the Moon.
04:47That's also when we started altering the Moon in unpredictable ways.
04:52Scientists call this the Lunar Anthropocene.
04:56It's like an analogy with Earth's Anthropocene,
04:59a period when human activity made an impact on the planet.
05:03It's not like we can choose a certain starting point when such an activity began.
05:07But we now know that things we have done over the history of our existence
05:11have really changed the environment of our home planet.
05:15We don't have any people living on the Moon yet,
05:18but we've already left some traces there.
05:21After humans first came to the Moon, we've had many missions there.
05:25We left some landers and flags, moved lunar soil,
05:28brought golf balls, scientific equipment, and even some human waste.
05:34Plans for the future?
05:36Send more missions up there and even potentially create an infrastructure
05:40where some of us could live, study the Moon's resources, and send them back to Earth.
05:46That's why it's important to talk about the Lunar Anthropocene
05:49to remind ourselves we have to be responsible and take care of our heritage.
05:55Many people are confused about why we sometimes see the Moon during the day.
06:00Some even believe it's something new that didn't happen before,
06:04especially after they started sharing a low-res picture
06:07of what looks like a full Moon in the middle of the day.
06:11Some have pretty unusual ideas that the Sun isn't the same color as it was before either.
06:17Allegedly, it used to be more yellow.
06:20The Sun hasn't changed its color. It's still blue-green.
06:24But it's possible that we saw it as more yellow when we were younger
06:28because before, pollution wasn't as bad.
06:31And when it comes to the Moon, we can see it both at night and during the day.
06:36It's brighter at night because there's no light coming from the Sun.
06:40But it's not like it goes anywhere during the day.
06:42It's still there, but we just don't see it during the new Moon phase.
06:47That lasts a couple of days, and during that period, the Moon comes pretty close to the Sun.
06:53The scattered light coming from the Sun makes our satellite less visible to us.
06:58Speaking of the Moon phases, they're easy to recognize when you know what to pay attention to.
07:04First, there's the Black Moon, which can mean a couple of things.
07:08One definition says that it occurs when we have two new Moons in a month.
07:13Another one claims that the Black Moon happens when there's no new Moon in a month,
07:18and that only happens in February.
07:21The Blue Moon is not called that because of the color.
07:24It's the third full Moon in a season that has four full Moons.
07:28And a Super Moon occurs when a full Moon coincides with the Moon's closest approach to Earth in its elliptical orbit.
07:35That's why it looks bigger than usual.
07:38Sometimes you can look up to the night sky and see an eerily red sphere up there.
07:44It's not about signs that tell us that the end of the world is coming or that werewolves are roaming around.
07:49Yep, Blood Moon is a good inspiration for stories like that.
07:53In reality, it's just an astronomical event when our planet casts a reddish shadow on the Moon.
08:00And that happens when Earth comes between the Moon and the Sun, which is called a total lunar eclipse.
08:06Earth's little companion catches some red light coming from our atmosphere,
08:10and that's why you see that specific color.
08:16That's it for today.
08:17So hey, if you pacified your curiosity, then give the video a like and share it with your friends.
08:22Or if you want more, just click on these videos and stay on the Bright Side!
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