Astronaut Sloth High Resolution


"Titan is a very active moon. We already know that about its geology and exotic hydrocarbon cycle. Now we can add another analogy with Earth and Mars: the active dust cycle, in which organic dust can be raised from large dune fields around Titan's equator," Dr. Sebastien Rodriguez explained in a September 24, 2018 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Press Release. Dr. Rodriguez is an astronomer at the Universite Paris Diderot, France, and the paper's lead author. The JPL is in Pasadena, California. A billion years ago, our Moon was closer to Earth than it is now. As a result, it appeared to be a much larger object in the sky. During that ancient era, if human beings had been around to witness such a sight, it would have been possible to see the entire Moon--not merely the one near side face that we see now. A billion years ago, it took our Moon only twenty days to orbit our planet, and Earth's own day was considerably shorter--only eighteen hours long. Stupendous, almost unimaginably enormous tides, that were more than a kilometer in height, would ebb and flow every few hours. However, things changed, as the lunar orbit around our primordial planet grew ever wider and wider. Annually, Earth's Moon moves about 1.6 inches farther out into space. Currently, the lunar rate of rotation, as well as the time it takes to circle our planet, are the same. Earth's Moon is the largest and brightest object suspended in the darkness of the starry night sky. It is both lovely and enchanting, and it has, since ancient times, inspired curiosity and wonder in human beings who gaze up at the mysterious sky after the Sun has set. As such, Earth's Moon has long served as the inspiration for imaginative, wild and marvelous tales--it is the stuff of mythology and folklore. The "Man in the Moon" refers to several fantastic images of a human face that certain traditions see outlined in the gleaming disk of the full Moon. In November 2013, astronomers using data from the lunar-orbiting twins composing NASA's Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) mission, announced that they have been acquiring new and fascinating insight into how this bewitching "face," etched on our Moon's disk, received its captivating and enchanting good looks!