Mesmerising Moon
Only yesterday I was wondering about wonderful Moon.As most kids in India, I knew it as Chanda Mama or Uncle Moon, till I grew up to understand the more scientific reason behind its existence.Yes, that sounds hilarious but we in India have a name for everything and everyone.Whether it is animals, trees, plants, lakes, rivers, mountains, heavenly bodies or anything else you can think of , it is considered holy,will have a name and some mythological story attached to it.Bottom line is you have to have respect for all. That is how in India a milkman is dhoodh wala bhaiya (elder brother selling milk) or vegetable vendor is kaka (uncle) and anybody you meet on streets and ask for address have to be addressed as uncle or aunty.
But wherever you are ,whenever you look up in the sky during dusk or night, you see this familiar object, up in the sky, watching you all the time, smiling to you as if it knows all your secrets and all you have been upto.But this moon is visible to us in its different forms.It changes its appearance like us.Sometime it is a full moon and then it slowly decreases to a curve till finally it vanishes and then it slowly grows back from half to full moon.But why does moon change its shape?
Moon orbits around earth in 29 and half days.As it moves around the earth only half of the moon faces the sun and other half faces away from sun.Moon is lit on the half facing the Sun.This movement of moon around earth gives moon different shapes.When the moon is between earth and sun ,it is new moon.When earth is between sun and moon, it is full moon. In most of the places in India , people follow lunar calendar as compared to west, where solar calendar is followed.
But wherever you are ,whenever you look up in the sky during dusk or night, you see this familiar object, up in the sky, watching you all the time, smiling to you as if it knows all your secrets and all you have been upto.But this moon is visible to us in its different forms.It changes its appearance like us.Sometime it is a full moon and then it slowly decreases to a curve till finally it vanishes and then it slowly grows back from half to full moon.But why does moon change its shape?
Moon orbits around earth in 29 and half days.As it moves around the earth only half of the moon faces the sun and other half faces away from sun.Moon is lit on the half facing the Sun.This movement of moon around earth gives moon different shapes.When the moon is between earth and sun ,it is new moon.When earth is between sun and moon, it is full moon. In most of the places in India , people follow lunar calendar as compared to west, where solar calendar is followed.
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