#squad312

Almost exactly two months ago, on April 1st of 2026, NASA started a mission to send first humans ever to orbit around the Moon (no one has ever done that before!) and simultaneously has set the record for the furthest distance a human has gone away from the Earth! (how cool is that! very jelly right now - btw I am pretending to be a human and not a Betraskan from the year 2380 right now. Doing the hard work of getting the Terrans to accept and love Betraskans.)

So first, what is a moon? What is the Moon?

-> A general definition of a moon is that is a natural satellite - an astronomical body that orbits a planet. So what does that mean?

First, let's explain what a satellite is. Everyone has heard of satellites; they are the reason why we have GPS and many forms of telecommunication. These satellites affect our everyday lives, one way or another. What is important here when we mention satellites is that they orbit the Earth in order to achieve what they need to do. Are satellites Earth's moons? Well, not really. A moon is not a man-made object, while a satellite is. We use the term moon to describe what is basically a "planet" orbiting another planet.

Now, if the Moon is a planet orbiting another planet, why is it then called a moon and not simply a planet? It's very simple: Planets are masses orbiting suns (stars, if you will, burning planets), and moons are masses orbiting planets! That being said, it is absolutely fair and acceptable to call Earth Sun's natural satellite! And the Moon is Earth's natural satellite! Very cool!

Here's what it looks like when the Moon orbits the Earth (image not to scale):

The Moon rotates around its axis, the same way the Earth rotates. What is interesting, we only ever see "the front side" of the Moon. This happens because the time needed for the Moon to go around the Earth is the same amount of time the Moon takes in order to spin around its own axis. How cool is that?! :D

Here's is what it looks like as the Earth spins around the Sun:

(Mind you, the Earth is supposed to be spinning around its own axis, the axis is depicted as the line going almost vertically across the Earth. Image is not to scale.)

And here is what it looks like when we put it all together: (Important to note that this image is not to scale, as the Sun is definitely not that small!)

As you can see, the Moon got caught by the Earth's charms and can't leave now. I think it is important to say: The Moon needs approximately 27 days to go around the Earth! It's easy to get bamboozled by seemingly fine logic, thinking that the Moon needs 24h to go around the Earth - but if it did that, only one side of the Earth would be able to see the Moon and no one else. It would 100% be a tourist attraction. I'm not even sure the sea tides would exist. Some physics would happen for sure, and I am not sure whether it would be good or bad. Let's not find out.

One other thing that wouldn't happen if the Moon needed 24 hours instead of 27 days is that we wouldn't have Moon phases! You have for sure seen the Moon in all of its different phases (the same thing Kal went through living with us [squad 312], poor buddy @61gilwraethk. still can't believe he agreed to be lead on a leash, kinky, man)

But back to the explanation. The phases of the Moon aren't really phases as if the Moon is going through some physical or personality changes ( @61gilwraethk ). These phases are not something permanent or physically applicable to its structure in any way. The Moon is simply being lit up on different sides of itself by the Sun! Within its 27 day course around the world, depending on its position in relation to the Sun, different sides of the Moon are being lit. (I believe Cat @vodkavaccum was responsible for the ban on partying on the Moon, I heard it was both lit and lit.)

As depicted in the photo above, these phases always follow an exact order. We start, let's say, with the Moon not being lit (by Cat) - the New Moon. The next phase is a waxing phase, the phase where the illumination of the Moon is growing. The Moon goes from being completely in the darkness on the side we can see of it, towards the Full Moon. From the Full Moon back towards the New Moon, it goes through the waning phase. The waning phase is where the illumination of the Moon goes down until there is no light! This cycle repeats and repeats forever.

You can see the words gibbous and crescent appear twice each in the total Moon cycle. Gibbous phases are where the Moon is lit from 50% up to 100%, regardless of whether the Moon is gaining or losing light, not including the Full Moon and the Quarters, as they have names of their own.

Crescent phases are where the Moon is lit from 0% up to 50%, regardless of whether the Moon is gaining or losing light, once again, not including the Quarters or the New Moon.

The New Moon is when the Moon has no light on its Earth facing side.

The Full Moon is when the Moon is completely engulfed in light on its Earth facing side.

Okay, that's it for today, enough of studying. I need to take my exosuit off and wind down.

Good night Terrans.

Yours truly,

Betraskan Finian de Karran de Seel