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120-534: In Hindu Iconography , Shiva is often shown wearing a crescent moon on his head, symbolising his control over time, as well as his attributes of both creation and destruction. It is used as the astrological symbol for the Moon , and hence as the alchemical symbol for silver . It was also the emblem of Diana / Artemis , and hence represented virginity . In veneration of Mary in the Catholic Church , it

240-697: A Zoroastrian regal or astrological symbol. In the Crusades it came to be associated with the Orient (the Byzantine Empire , the Levant and Outremer in general) and was widely used (often alongside a star ) in Crusader seals and coins . It was used as a heraldic charge by the later 13th century. Isaac Komnenos of Cyprus , the claimant to the Byzantine Empire who ruled Cyprus until overthrown by

360-526: A lunar eclipse , always illuminated by the Sun, but from Earth the visible illumination shifts during its orbit, producing the lunar phases . The Moon is the brightest celestial object in Earth's night sky . This is mainly due to its large angular diameter , while the reflectance of the lunar surface is comparable to that of asphalt . The apparent size is nearly the same as that of the Sun, allowing it to cover

480-409: A "multiplicity convention" in religious iconography. Such multiple body parts represent the divine omnipresence and immanence (ability to be in many places at once and simultaneously exist in all places at once), and thereby the ability to influence many things at once. The specific meanings attributed to the multiple body parts of an image are symbolic, not literal in context. In such depictions,

600-539: A "religious symbol" of Islam was an error made by the "Christians of Europe". The identification of the crescent as an "Islamic symbol" is mentioned by James Hastings as a "common error" to which "even approved writers on Oriental subjects" are prone as early as 1928. The crescent was used on a flag of the American Revolutionary War and was called the Liberty (or Moultrie) Flag . The symbol of

720-425: A decisive role on local surface temperatures . Parts of many craters, particularly the bottoms of many polar craters, are permanently shadowed, these " craters of eternal darkness " have extremely low temperatures. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter measured the lowest summer temperatures in craters at the southern pole at 35 K (−238 °C; −397 °F) and just 26 K (−247 °C; −413 °F) close to

840-417: A decorative vermilion dot or bindu, or bindī on the forehead. This is analogous to a wedding ring worn in western countries. In southern India, the mark is called pottu (or bottu). The exact shape, size and location of the bindi or pottu shows regional variation; for instance, in some parts of India the bindi is often worn just below the hairline, while in southern India it is more common to wear it between

960-434: A few kilometers wide), shallower, and more irregularly shaped than impact craters. They also lack the upturned rims characteristic of impact craters. Several geologic provinces containing shield volcanoes and volcanic domes are found within the near side maria. There are also some regions of pyroclastic deposits , scoria cones and non-basaltic domes made of particularly high viscosity lava. Almost all maria are on

1080-503: A global dipolar magnetic field and only has crustal magnetization likely acquired early in its history when a dynamo was still operating. Early in its history, 4 billion years ago, its magnetic field strength was likely close to that of Earth today. This early dynamo field apparently expired by about one billion years ago, after the lunar core had crystallized. Theoretically, some of the remnant magnetization may originate from transient magnetic fields generated during large impacts through

1200-718: A hospitable environment for future astronauts, protecting them from extreme temperatures, solar radiation, and micrometeorites. However, challenges include accessibility and risks of avalanches and cave-ins. This discovery offers potential for future lunar bases or emergency shelters. The main features visible from Earth by the naked eye are dark and relatively featureless lunar plains called maria (singular mare ; Latin for "seas", as they were once believed to be filled with water) are vast solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. Although similar to terrestrial basalts, lunar basalts have more iron and no minerals altered by water. The majority of these lava deposits erupted or flowed into

1320-429: A hypothesized Mars-sized body called Theia . The lunar surface is covered in lunar dust and marked by mountains , impact craters , their ejecta , ray-like streaks , rilles and, mostly on the near side of the Moon, by dark maria ("seas"), which are plains of cooled lava . These maria were formed when molten lava flowed into ancient impact basins. The Moon is, except when passing through Earth's shadow during

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1440-533: A landscape featuring craters of all ages. The Moon was volcanically active until 1.2 billion years ago, which laid down the prominent lunar maria . Most of the mare basalts erupted during the Imbrian period , 3.3–3.7 billion years ago, though some are as young as 1.2 billion years and some as old as 4.2 billion years. There are differing explanations for the eruption of mare basalts, particularly their uneven occurrence which mainly appear on

1560-463: A necklace and used as a rosary to accompany prayer and meditation. Among the most revered symbols in Hinduism, three are a quintessential part of its culture, and are most representative of its general ethos: Om (or Aum, ॐ ) is the sacred sound symbol that represents the universe; the ultimate reality ( Brahman ). It is prefixed and sometimes suffixed to all Vedic mantras and prayers. Aum

1680-627: A particular natural or human attribute, or profession. It is important to understand the symbolism, in order to appreciate the allegorical references in not only Hindu scriptures (for instance, Puranic tales ), but also in both ancient and modern secular works of authors from the Indian subcontinent. The art and science of designing temples includes the study of sculpture and the ornamentation of religious significance as described in sacred texts (shilpa shaastra aagamas). In Ancient India twelve years of theoretical and practical training used to be given to

1800-428: A radius of about 500 kilometres (310 mi). This structure is thought to have developed through the fractional crystallization of a global magma ocean shortly after the Moon's formation 4.5 billion years ago. Crystallization of this magma ocean would have created a mafic mantle from the precipitation and sinking of the minerals olivine , clinopyroxene , and orthopyroxene ; after about three-quarters of

1920-546: A replacement of the Red Cross as early as in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877/8, and it was officially adopted in 1929. While some Islamic organisations since the 1970s have embraced the crescent as their logo or emblem (e.g. Crescent International magazine, established 1980), some Muslim publications tend to emphasize that the interpretation of the crescent, historically used on the banners of Muslim armies, as

2040-458: A satellite with similar mass and iron content to the Moon into orbit far outside Earth's Roche limit . Even satellites that initially pass within the Roche limit can reliably and predictably survive, by being partially stripped and then torqued onto wider, stable orbits. On November 1, 2023, scientists reported that, according to computer simulations, remnants of Theia could still be present inside

2160-494: A sign of devotion by the followers of Hinduism. These are often objects associated with a puja (prayer) or religious ceremony. Murtis ( Sanskrit : मूर्ति) are sacred works of art, primarily in the form of statues and paintings, which serve as representations of divinity, for use during religious devotion. Murtis are a huge part of contemporary mainstream Hindu culture and often hold significant sentimental value in many Hindu homes. Many believe that murtis are vessels that capture

2280-475: A study of Ina , a tiny depression in Lacus Felicitatis , found jagged, relatively dust-free features that, because of the lack of erosion by infalling debris, appeared to be only 2 million years old. Moonquakes and releases of gas indicate continued lunar activity. Evidence of recent lunar volcanism has been identified at 70 irregular mare patches , some less than 50 million years old. This raises

2400-502: A texture resembling snow and a scent resembling spent gunpowder . The regolith of older surfaces is generally thicker than for younger surfaces: it varies in thickness from 10–15 m (33–49 ft) in the highlands and 4–5 m (13–16 ft) in the maria. Beneath the finely comminuted regolith layer is the megaregolith , a layer of highly fractured bedrock many kilometers thick. These extreme conditions are considered to make it unlikely for spacecraft to harbor bacterial spores at

2520-439: A trans-Atlantic flight, 200 times more than on Earth's surface. For further comparison radiation on a flight to Mars is about 1.84 millisieverts per day and on Mars on average 0.64 millisieverts per day, with some locations on Mars possibly having levels as low as 0.342 millisieverts per day. The Moon's axial tilt with respect to the ecliptic is only 1.5427°, much less than the 23.44° of Earth. Because of this small tilt,

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2640-467: A variant with a crescent shape N10 ). The crescent was well used in the iconography of the ancient Near East and was used by the Phoenicians in the 8th century BC as far as Carthage and Numidia in modern Tunisia and Algeria . The crescent and star also appears on pre-Islamic coins of South Arabia. The combination of star and crescent also arises in the ancient Near East , representing

2760-531: Is 1.2% that of the Earth, and its diameter is 3,474 km (2,159 mi), roughly one-quarter of Earth's (about as wide as the United States from coast to coast ). Within the Solar System , it is the largest and most massive satellite in relation to its parent planet , the fifth largest and most massive moon overall, and larger and more massive than all known dwarf planets . Its surface gravity

2880-469: Is Vishnu's great deed and constitutes his great glory. With these three steps Vishnu, a solar deity, courses through the three divisions of the universe, "the god being manifest in a threefold form, as Agni on earth, Indra or Vayu in the atmosphere and Surya in the sky". He is said to have taken these three steps for the preservation and benefit of mortals. The zenith is appropriately called Vishnu's place. His third step cannot be seen with human eyes. It

3000-659: Is a combination of the words ‘Shiva’ (auspiciousness) and linga (sign or symbol). Thus ‘Shivalinga’ is a representation of Shiva in His all-auspicious aspect. Linga has been translated as phallus, which refers to his aspect of the masculine principle. ‘Linga’ also means the place of dissolution of the disintegrated universe. Based on the mobility of the object of worship, Shivalingas are broadly divided into two categories – ‘Cala’ and ‘Acala’ These are made of stone, crystal, metals, clay, rice, dough, etc. These can be moved from one place to another. The sacred texts describe many types of

3120-608: Is a mark worn on the forehead or other parts of the body as a sign of spiritual devotion. Hindus may wear a tilaka regularly or especially on religious occasions. The shape of the tilaka is often an indicator of devotion to a certain deity. For example, the U-shaped urdhva pundra usually denotes devotion to Vishnu , while Shiva devotees often wear it in the form of three horizontal lines. It may be made of saffron , vermilion , turmeric , clay , or simply ash. To denote marriage and auspiciousness, married Hindu women commonly wear

3240-413: Is a shape enclosed by two circular arcs which intersect at two points. In a crescent, the enclosed shape does not include the center of the original disk. The tapered regions towards the points of intersection of the two arcs are known as the "horns" of the crescent. The classical crescent shape has its horns pointing upward (and is often worn as horns when worn as a crown or diadem, e.g. in depictions of

3360-407: Is about one sixth of Earth's, about half of that of Mars , and the second highest among all Solar System moons, after Jupiter 's moon Io . The body of the Moon is differentiated and terrestrial , with no significant hydrosphere , atmosphere , or magnetic field . It formed 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth's formation , out of the debris from a giant impact between Earth and

3480-489: Is around 3 × 10   atm (0.3  nPa ); it varies with the lunar day. Its sources include outgassing and sputtering , a product of the bombardment of lunar soil by solar wind ions. Elements that have been detected include sodium and potassium , produced by sputtering (also found in the atmospheres of Mercury and Io ); helium-4 and neon from the solar wind; and argon-40 , radon-222 , and polonium-210 , outgassed after their creation by radioactive decay within

3600-558: Is associated with Mary, mother of Jesus . From its use as roof finial in Ottoman mosques , it has also become associated with Islam , and the crescent was introduced as chaplain badge for Muslim United States military chaplains in 1993. The crescent symbol is primarily used to represent the Moon , not necessarily in a particular lunar phase . When used to represent a waxing or waning lunar phase, "crescent" or "increscent" refers to

3720-483: Is associated with the creation theology as well as the gods Vishnu , Brahma , and Lakshmi . It is the symbol of beauty and fertility. "In the Bhagavad Gita , a human is adjured to be like the lotus; they should work without attachment, dedicating their actions to God , untouched by sin like water on a lotus leaf, like a beautiful flower standing high above the mud and water." The musical instrument Veena

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3840-573: Is associated with the Hindu goddess Saraswati and the sage Narada . Its origin lies in south India as it was used in Carnatic classical music. Furthermore its a symbol of arts and learning. The conch shell is a major Hindu article of prayer , used as a trumpeting announcement of all sorts. In Vaishnavism , the god of preservation, Vishnu , is said to hold a special conch, Panchajanya , that represents life as it has come out of life-giving waters. In

3960-532: Is asymmetric, being more dense near the boundary between the Moon's dayside and nightside. Ionizing radiation from cosmic rays , the Sun and the resulting neutron radiation produce radiation levels on average of 1.369 millisieverts per day during lunar daytime , which is about 2.6 times more than on the International Space Station with 0.53 millisieverts per day at about 400 km above Earth in orbit, 5–10 times more than during

4080-569: Is called Vishnu bhagam or Vishnu Bhaga (it represents Vishnu, the Protector and sustainer of the world; it is octagonal in cross section. Both the Brahma bhagam and Vishnu bhagam are embedded in peetham (the ornamental pedestal). A visible 1/3rd Shiva Pooja bhagam or Pooja bhaga (also known as Rudra bhagam or Rudra bhaga) which is top most part which is worshiped. It is circular in cross section and cylindrical in shape. It represents Rudra (Shiva),

4200-489: Is different from the pronunciation of Om. Both are often symbolically equated, although they are sonically distinct. Swastika is a symbol connoting general auspiciousness. It may represent purity of soul, truth, and stability or, alternatively, Surya , the sun. Its rotation in four directions has been used to represent many ideas, but primarily describes the four directions, the four Vedas and their harmonious whole. Its use in Hinduism dates back to ancient times, however

4320-561: Is estimated from about 500 km (300 miles) to 1,737 km (1,079 miles). While the giant-impact theory explains many lines of evidence, some questions are still unresolved, most of which involve the Moon's composition. Models that have the Moon acquiring a significant amount of the proto-earth are more difficult to reconcile with geochemical data for the isotopes of zirconium, oxygen, silicon, and other elements. A study published in 2022, using high-resolution simulations (up to 10 particles), found that giant impacts can immediately place

4440-473: Is here that Indra dwells. It is the tower that was built on the wall of entrance. It was many storied building, up to one storied to sixteen storied. It contains many portico like kudaivarai, prasthra, karnakuta, sala, panchara, kudu . It can be seen mainly in south Indian temples with Dravidian architecture. Moon The Moon is Earth 's only natural satellite . It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times

4560-445: Is often said to represent God in the three aspects of Brahman (A), Vishnu (U) and Shiva (M). As the divine primordial vibration, it represents the one ultimate reality underlying and encompassing all of nature and all of existence. The written syllable ॐ called omkara serves as a deeply significant and distinctly recognizable symbol for Hinduism. The pronunciation of Aum moves through all possible human linguistic vowel sounds and

4680-440: Is on average about 1.9 km (1.2 mi) higher than that of the near side. The discovery of fault scarp cliffs suggest that the Moon has shrunk by about 90 metres (300 ft) within the past billion years. Similar shrinkage features exist on Mercury . Mare Frigoris, a basin near the north pole long assumed to be geologically dead, has cracked and shifted. Since the Moon does not have tectonic plates, its tectonic activity

4800-531: Is reflected in the 14th-century Libro del Conoscimiento and the Catalan Atlas . Examples include the flags attributed to Gabes , Tlemcen , Tunis and Buda , Nubia / Dongola (documented by Angelino Dulcert in 1339) and the Mamluks of Egypt . The Roman Catholic fashion of depicting Madonna standing or sitting on a crescent develops in the 15th century. The goddess Diana was associated with

4920-477: Is simply Moon , with a capital M. The noun moon is derived from Old English mōna , which (like all its Germanic cognates) stems from Proto-Germanic *mēnōn , which in turn comes from Proto-Indo-European *mēnsis 'month' (from earlier *mēnōt , genitive *mēneses ) which may be related to the verb 'measure' (of time). Occasionally, the name Luna / ˈ l uː n ə / is used in scientific writing and especially in science fiction to distinguish

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5040-574: Is slow and cracks develop as it loses heat. Scientists have confirmed the presence of a cave on the Moon near the Sea of Tranquillity , not far from the 1969 Apollo 11 landing site. The cave, identified as an entry point to a collapsed lava tube, is roughly 45 meters wide and up to 80 m long. This discovery marks the first confirmed entry point to a lunar cave. The analysis was based on photos taken in 2010 by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter . The cave's stable temperature of around 17 °C could provide

5160-476: Is the lowest point on the surface of the Moon. The highest elevations of the Moon's surface are located directly to the northeast, which might have been thickened by the oblique formation impact of the South Pole–Aitken basin. Other large impact basins such as Imbrium , Serenitatis , Crisium , Smythii , and Orientale possess regionally low elevations and elevated rims. The far side of the lunar surface

5280-743: The flag of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (1981) and the flag of the Arab League . New Orleans is nicknamed "the Crescent City", and a crescent (or crescent and star) is used to represent the city in official emblems. Crescents, often with faces, are found on numerous modern municipal coats of arms in Europe, e.g. Germany : Bönnigheim , Dettighofen , Dogern , Jesenwang , Karstädt , Michelfeld (Angelbachtal) , Waldbronn ; Switzerland : Boswil , Dättlikon , Neerach (from

5400-522: The Moon and Ishtar (the planet Venus), often combined into a triad with the solar disk . It was inherited both in Sassanian and Hellenistic iconography. Selene , the moon goddess , was depicted with a crescent upon her head, often referred to as her horns , and a major identifying feature of hers in ancient works of art. In the iconography of the Hellenistic period , the crescent became

5520-472: The Triple Goddess is a circle flanked by a left facing and right facing crescent, which represents a maiden , mother and crone archetype. The biohazard symbol bears peculiar resemblance to it. The crescent has been used as a heraldic charge since the 13th century. In heraldic terminology, the term "crescent" when used alone refers to a crescent with the horns pointing upward. A crescent with

5640-599: The US military . The term crescent may also refer to objects with a shape reminiscent of the crescent shape, such as houses forming an arc , a type of solitaire game , Crescent Nebula , glomerular crescent (crescent shaped scar of the glomeruli of the kidney), the Fertile Crescent (the fertile area of land between Mesopotamia and Egypt roughly forming a crescent shape), and the croissant (the French form of

5760-640: The 16th century. Prints depicting the Battle of Lepanto (1571), including the print by Agostino Barberigo of Rome made just a few weeks after the battle, and the Martino Rota of Venice in the following year, show the Ottoman vessels displaying flags with one or several crescents in various orientations (as do the monumental paintings commissioned later based on these prints). Rota also shows numerous crescent finials, both on ships and on fortresses depicted in

5880-484: The 16th-century Neuamt coat of arms); France : Katzenthal , Mortcerf ; Malta : Qormi ; Sweden : Trosa . The crescent printed on military ration boxes is the US Department of Defense symbol for subsistence items. The symbol is used on packaged foodstuffs but not on fresh produce or on items intended for resale. Since 1993, the crescent has also been in use as chaplain badge for Muslim chaplains in

6000-452: The Earth and the material accreted and formed the Moon just beyond the Earth's Roche limit of ~ 2.56  R 🜨 . Giant impacts are thought to have been common in the early Solar System. Computer simulations of giant impacts have produced results that are consistent with the mass of the lunar core and the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system. These simulations show that most of

6120-520: The Earth's moon from others, while in poetry "Luna" has been used to denote personification of the Moon. Cynthia / ˈ s ɪ n θ i ə / is another poetic name, though rare, for the Moon personified as a goddess, while Selene / s ə ˈ l iː n iː / (literally 'Moon') is the Greek goddess of the Moon. The English adjective pertaining to the Moon is lunar , derived from the Latin word for

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6240-429: The Earth, due to gravitational anomalies from impact basins. Its shape is more elongated than current tidal forces can account for. This 'fossil bulge' indicates that the Moon solidified when it orbited at half its current distance to the Earth, and that it is now too cold for its shape to restore hydrostatic equilibrium at its current orbital distance. The Moon is by size and mass the fifth largest natural satellite of

6360-469: The Earth-Moon system might be explained by the post-impact mixing of the vaporized material that formed the two, although this is debated. The impact would have released enough energy to liquefy both the ejecta and the Earth's crust, forming a magma ocean. The liquefied ejecta could have then re-accreted into the Earth–Moon system. The newly formed Moon would have had its own magma ocean ; its depth

6480-530: The Earth. The newly formed Moon settled into a much closer Earth orbit than it has today. Each body therefore appeared much larger in the sky of the other, eclipses were more frequent, and tidal effects were stronger. Due to tidal acceleration , the Moon's orbit around Earth has become significantly larger, with a longer period. Following formation, the Moon has cooled and most of its atmosphere has been stripped. The lunar surface has since been shaped by large impact events and many small ones, forming

6600-504: The Moon approximately 10 minutes, taking 5 minutes to rise, and 5 minutes to fall. On average, 120 kilograms of dust are present above the Moon, rising up to 100 kilometers above the surface. Dust counts made by LADEE 's Lunar Dust EXperiment (LDEX) found particle counts peaked during the Geminid , Quadrantid , Northern Taurid , and Omicron Centaurid meteor showers , when the Earth, and Moon pass through comet debris. The lunar dust cloud

6720-459: The Moon deity Nanna/Sin from an early time, visible in Akkadian cylinder seals as early as 2300 BC. The Egyptian logograph representing the Moon also had a crescent shape ( Gardiner N11 , ı͗ꜥḥ "moon" (with increscent and decrescent variants); variant N12 ). In addition, there is a 19th-dynasty hieroglyph representing the "moon with its lower half obscured (N9 psḏ , with

6840-458: The Moon derived from the impactor, rather than the proto-Earth. However, models from 2007 and later suggest a larger fraction of the Moon derived from the proto-Earth. Other bodies of the inner Solar System such as Mars and Vesta have, according to meteorites from them, very different oxygen and tungsten isotopic compositions compared to Earth. However, Earth and the Moon have nearly identical isotopic compositions. The isotopic equalization of

6960-495: The Moon for longer than just one lunar orbit. The topography of the Moon has been measured with laser altimetry and stereo image analysis . Its most extensive topographic feature is the giant far-side South Pole–Aitken basin , some 2,240 km (1,390 mi) in diameter, the largest crater on the Moon and the second-largest confirmed impact crater in the Solar System . At 13 km (8.1 mi) deep, its floor

7080-466: The Moon formed around 50 million years after the origin of the Solar System . Historically, several formation mechanisms have been proposed, but none satisfactorily explains the features of the Earth–Moon system. A fission of the Moon from Earth's crust through centrifugal force would require too great an initial rotation rate of Earth. Gravitational capture of a pre-formed Moon depends on an unfeasibly extended atmosphere of Earth to dissipate

7200-559: The Moon in classical mythology. In reference to this, feminine jewelry representing crescents, especially diadems , became popular in the early modern period. The tarot card of the " Popess " also wears a crescent on her head. Conrad Grünenberg in his Pilgrimage to the Holy Land (1486) consistently depicts cities in the Holy Land with crescent finials. Flags with crescents appear to have been used on Ottoman vessels since at least

7320-455: The Moon is a crescent\decrescent, [REDACTED] \ [REDACTED] , for example in M ☾ 'lunar mass' (also M L ). The lunar geological periods are named after their characteristic features, from most impact craters outside the dark mare , to the mare and later craters, and finally the young, still bright and therefore readily visible craters with ray systems like Copernicus or Tycho . Isotope dating of lunar samples suggests

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7440-486: The Moon is shown with a crescent attached to her headdress. Its ancient association with Ishtar/Astarte and Diana is preserved in the Moon (as symbolised by a crescent) representing the female principle (as juxtaposed with the Sun representing the male principle ), and (Artemis-Diana being a virgin goddess) especially virginity and female chastity . In Christian symbolism , the crescent entered Marian iconography , by

7560-508: The Moon's solar illumination varies much less with season than on Earth and it allows for the existence of some peaks of eternal light at the Moon's north pole , at the rim of the crater Peary . The surface is exposed to drastic temperature differences ranging from 120 °C to −171 °C depending on the solar irradiance . Because of the lack of atmosphere, temperatures of different areas vary particularly upon whether they are in sunlight or shadow, making topographical details play

7680-403: The Moon, lūna . Selenian / s ə l iː n i ə n / is an adjective used to describe the Moon as a world, rather than as a celestial object, but its use is rare. It is derived from σελήνη selēnē , the Greek word for the Moon, and its cognate selenic was originally a rare synonym but now nearly always refers to the chemical element selenium . The element name selenium and

7800-684: The Sasanian capital of Ctesiphon in the Kaaba . The crescent also became the symbol of the Umayyad Caliphate . The crescent appears to have been adopted as an emblem on military flags by the Islamic armies from at least the 13th century, although the scholarly consensus holds that the widespread use of the crescent in Islam develops later, during the 14th to 15th century. The use of such flags

7920-494: The Solar System relative to their primary planets. The Moon's diameter is about 3,500 km, more than a quarter of Earth's, with the face of the Moon comparable to the width of either Mainland Australia , Europe or the Contiguous United States (which excludes Alaska , etc.). The whole surface area of the Moon is about 38 million square kilometers, comparable to North and South America combined,

8040-467: The Solar System, categorizable as one of its planetary-mass moons , making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term . It is smaller than Mercury and considerably larger than the largest dwarf planet of the Solar System, Pluto . While the minor-planet moon Charon of the Pluto-Charon system is larger relative to Pluto, the Moon is the largest natural satellite of

8160-426: The Sun completely during a total solar eclipse . From Earth about 59% of the lunar surface is visible over time due to cyclical shifts in perspective ( libration ), making parts of the far side of the Moon visible. The Moon has been an important source of inspiration and knowledge for humans, having been crucial to cosmography , mythology, religion , art, time keeping , natural science , and spaceflight . In 1959,

8280-688: The association of Mary with the Woman of the Apocalypse (described with "the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars" in Revelation ) The most well known representation of Mary as the Woman of the Apocalypse is the Virgin of Guadalupe . The crescent shape is a type of lune , the latter consisting of a circular disk with a portion of another disk removed from it, so that what remains

8400-475: The background, as well as some finials with stars or suns radiant, and in some cases a sun radiant combined with a crescent in the star-and-crescent configuration. The official adoption of star and crescent as the Ottoman state symbol started during the reign of Sultan Mustafa III (1757–1774) and its use became well-established during Sultan Abdul Hamid I (1774–1789) and Sultan Selim III (1789–1807) periods. A buyruldu (decree) from 1793 states that

8520-413: The combined American landmass having an area (excluding all islands) of 37.7 million square kilometers. The Moon's mass is 1/81 of Earth's, being the second densest among the planetary moons, and having the second highest surface gravity , after Io , at 0.1654  g and an escape velocity of 2.38 km/s ( 8 600  km/h; 5 300  mph) . The Moon is a differentiated body that

8640-471: The crescent is used as a difference denoting a second son. The crescent remains in use as astrological symbol and astronomical symbol representing the Moon. Use of a standalone crescent in flags is less common than the star and crescent combination. Crescents without stars are found in the South Carolina state flag (1861), All India Muslim League (1906-1947), the flag of Maldives (1965),

8760-435: The crusading King Richard I of England , used arms with "a crescent of gold on a shade of azure, with a blazing star of eight points". Later, King Richard granted the same as the coat of arms of the city of Portsmouth , in recognition of the significant involvement of soldiers, sailors, and vessels from Portsmouth in the conquest of Cyprus. This remains Portsmouth 's coat of arms up to the present. Anna Notaras , daughter of

8880-433: The crust and mantle. The absence of such neutral species (atoms or molecules) as oxygen , nitrogen , carbon , hydrogen and magnesium , which are present in the regolith , is not understood. Water vapor has been detected by Chandrayaan-1 and found to vary with latitude, with a maximum at ~60–70 degrees; it is possibly generated from the sublimation of water ice in the regolith. These gases either return into

9000-461: The deities themselves are personifications of natural forces, for instance Agni (fire), Vayu (wind), Surya (Sun) and Prithvi (Earth). In other instances, the associations arise from specific incidents or characteristics related in Hindu theology . The iconography serve to identify the particular deity in their pictorial or sculptural representations. The symbolism also often links the deities with

9120-447: The dense mare basaltic lava flows that fill those basins. The anomalies greatly influence the orbit of spacecraft about the Moon. There are some puzzles: lava flows by themselves cannot explain all of the gravitational signature, and some mascons exist that are not linked to mare volcanism. The Moon has an external magnetic field of less than 0.2 nanoteslas , or less than one hundred thousandth that of Earth . The Moon does not have

9240-514: The depressions associated with impact basins , though the Moon's largest expanse of basalt flooding, Oceanus Procellarum , does not correspond to an obvious impact basin. Different episodes of lava flows in maria can often be recognized by variations in surface albedo and distinct flow margins. As the maria formed, cooling and contraction of the basaltic lava created wrinkle ridges in some areas. These low, sinuous ridges can extend for hundreds of kilometers and often outline buried structures within

9360-459: The destroyer of the world. It is known as Pooja bhagam because this part is worshipped. Brahmasutras : These are certain essential lines present on the Rudra bhagam (Rudra bhaga). Without them a Shivlinga is unfit to be worshipped. The Shiva linga is at the level of ground and easily accessible to the worshipers irrespective of their caste, social or economic status. [REDACTED] The lotus

9480-447: The diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period ( lunar month ) with its rotation period ( lunar day ) at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth. The Moon's gravitational pull—and, to a lesser extent, the Sun 's—are the main drivers of Earth's tides . In geophysical terms , the Moon is a planetary-mass object or satellite planet . Its mass

9600-432: The earliest records of swastikas were imprinted on pottery from central Mesopotamia and at Susa in western Iran in 4000 B.C. The Sri Chakra Yantra of Tripura Sundari (commonly referred to as Sri Yantra) is a mandala formed by nine interlocking triangles. Four of these triangles are oriented upright, representing Shiva or the masculine principle. Five of these triangles are inverted triangles representing Shakti ,

9720-405: The ellipse coinciding with a diameter of the semicircle. Unicode encodes a crescent (increscent) at U+263D (☽) and a decrescent at U+263E (☾). The Miscellaneous Symbols and Pictographs block provides variants with faces: U+1F31B 🌛 FIRST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE and U+1F31C 🌜 LAST QUARTER MOON WITH FACE . The crescent shape is used to represent the Moon, and

9840-468: The energy of the passing Moon. A co-formation of Earth and the Moon together in the primordial accretion disk does not explain the depletion of metals in the Moon. None of these hypotheses can account for the high angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system. The prevailing theory is that the Earth–Moon system formed after a giant impact of a Mars -sized body (named Theia ) with the proto-Earth . The oblique impact blasted material into orbit about

9960-418: The essence of gods, which helps the devotees focus and concentrate during prayers. Although there are many Hindu gods, the most common murtis are depictions of Ganesha , Hanuman , Shiva , and Lakshmi . Each deity appeals to certain aspects of human life, for example Lakshmi is the goddess of fortune and the embodiment of love, while Hanuman is worshiped for strength and loyalty. The tilaka (or tilak )

10080-422: The expansion of plasma clouds. These clouds are generated during large impacts in an ambient magnetic field. This is supported by the location of the largest crustal magnetizations situated near the antipodes of the giant impact basins. The Moon has an atmosphere so tenuous as to be nearly vacuum , with a total mass of less than 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons; 11 short tons). The surface pressure of this small mass

10200-1182: The exposed ones. Conversely, mare lava has obscured many impact melt sheets and pools. Impact melts are formed when intense shock pressures from collisions vaporize and melt zones around the impact site. Where still exposed, impact melt can be distinguished from mare lava by its distribution, albedo, and texture. Sinuous rilles , found in and around maria, are likely extinct lava channels or collapsed lava tubes . They typically originate from volcanic vents , meandering and sometimes branching as they progress. The largest examples, such as Schroter's Valley and Rima Hadley , are significantly longer, wider, and deeper than terrestrial lava channels, sometimes featuring bends and sharp turns that again, are uncommon on Earth. Mare volcanism has altered impact craters in various ways, including filling them to varying degrees, and raising and fracturing their floors from uplift of mare material beneath their interiors. Examples of such craters include Taruntius and Gassendi . Some craters, such as Hyginus , are of wholly volcanic origin, forming as calderas or collapse pits . Such craters are relatively rare, and tend to be smaller (typically

10320-458: The eyebrows. In east India, especially in West Bengal , traditionally larger bindis are worn as mark of devotion towards goddess Durga . Vibhuti (☰) is the holy ash obtained from sacred puja rites involving fire. Ash is considered a sign of purity due to its powdery white color. It is used on the forehead, normally as three horizontal lines representing Shiva . Some Hindus meld both

10440-415: The feminine principle. Together, the nine triangles form a web symbolic of the entire cosmos, a womb symbolic of creation, and together express Advaita Vedanta or non-duality . All other yantras are said to be derivatives of this supreme yantra. Several symbols (animals, flora, instruments, weapons, or even color) in Hindu iconography are associated with particular devas , and vice versa. In certain cases

10560-510: The first human-made objects to leave Earth and reach another body arrived at the Moon, with the flyby of the Soviet Union 's Luna 1 and the intentional impact of Luna 2 . In 1966, the Moon became the first extraterrestrial body with a soft landing by Luna 9 and a orbital insertion by Luna 10 were achieved . On July 20, 1969, humans for the first time landed on the Moon and any extraterrestrial body, at Mare Tranquillitatis with

10680-427: The flood lavas that erupted onto the surface from partial melting in the mantle confirm the mafic mantle composition, which is more iron-rich than that of Earth. The crust is on average about 50 kilometres (31 mi) thick. The Moon is the second-densest satellite in the Solar System, after Io . However, the inner core of the Moon is small, with a radius of about 350 kilometres (220 mi) or less, around 20% of

10800-492: The followers. Over time some of the symbols, for instance the Swastika has come to have wider association while others like Om are recognized as unique representations of Hinduism. Other aspects of Hindu iconography are covered by the terms murti , for icons and mudra for gestures and positions of the hands and body. Hindu sacraments are physical pieces of that help objects or markings that are considered sacred and used as

10920-474: The horns pointing left ( dexter ) is called "a crescent increscent" (or simply "an increscent"), and when the horns are pointing right ( sinister ), it is called "a crescent decrescent" (or "a decrescent"). A crescent with horns pointing down is called "a crescent reversed". Two crescents with horns pointing away from each other are called "addorsed". Siebmachers Wappenbuch (1605) has 48 coats of arms with one or more crescents, for example: In English heraldry,

11040-471: The lander Eagle of the United States ' Apollo 11 mission. Five more crews were sent between then and 1972, each with two men landing on the surface. The longest stay was 75 hours by the Apollo 17 crew. Since then, exploration of the Moon has continued robotically, and crewed missions are being planned to return beginning in the late 2020s. The usual English proper name for Earth's natural satellite

11160-646: The last megas doux of the Byzantine Empire Loukas Notaras , after the fall of Constantinople and her emigration to Italy, made a seal with her coat of arms which included "two lions holding above the crescent a cross or a sword". From its use in the Sasanian Empire, the crescent also found its way into Islamic iconography after the Muslim conquest of Persia . Umar is said to have hung two crescent-shaped ornaments captured from

11280-509: The lingas based on variations in the proportion Shivalingas are installed in temples and are fixed to ground or a base. They are usually made of stones or metals. The sacred texts suggest that the shiva linga must have three parts. A bottom most 1/3rd part that is in the earth - Brahma bhagam (represents Brahma, the Creator of the World) it is rectangular in cross section. A middle 1/3rd part

11400-405: The lit side of a spherical body (most notably the Moon ) that appears to be less than half illuminated by the Sun as seen by the viewer appears in a different shape from what is generally termed a crescent in planar geometry: Assuming the terminator lies on a great circle , the crescent Moon will actually appear as the figure bounded by a half- ellipse and a half-circle, with the major axis of

11520-420: The lunar goddess, or in the headdress of Persian kings, etc. The word crescent is derived etymologically from the present participle of the Latin verb crescere "to grow", technically denoting the waxing moon ( luna crescens ). As seen from the northern hemisphere, the waxing Moon tends to appear with its horns pointing towards the left, and conversely the waning Moon with its horns pointing towards

11640-421: The magma ocean had crystallized, lower-density plagioclase minerals could form and float into a crust atop. The final liquids to crystallize would have been initially sandwiched between the crust and mantle, with a high abundance of incompatible and heat-producing elements. Consistent with this perspective, geochemical mapping made from orbit suggests a crust of mostly anorthosite . The Moon rock samples of

11760-521: The mantle could be responsible for prolonged activities on the far side in the Orientale basin. The lighter-colored regions of the Moon are called terrae , or more commonly highlands , because they are higher than most maria. They have been radiometrically dated to having formed 4.4 billion years ago, and may represent plagioclase cumulates of the lunar magma ocean. In contrast to Earth, no major lunar mountains are believed to have formed as

11880-406: The mare. Another result of maria formation is the creation of concentric depressions along the edges, known as arcuate rilles . These features occur as the mare basalts sink inward under their own weight, causing the edges to fracture and separate. In addition to the visible maria, the Moon has mare deposits covered by ejecta from impacts. Called cryptomares, these hidden mares are likely older than

12000-524: The near side of the Moon, and cover 31% of the surface of the near side compared with 2% of the far side. This is likely due to a concentration of heat-producing elements under the crust on the near side, which would have caused the underlying mantle to heat up, partially melt, rise to the surface and erupt. Most of the Moon's mare basalts erupted during the Imbrian period , 3.3–3.7 billion years ago, though some being as young as 1.2 billion years and as old as 4.2 billion years. In 2006,

12120-440: The near-side. Causes of the distribution of the lunar highlands on the far side are also not well understood. Topological measurements show the near side crust is thinner than the far side. One possible scenario then is that large impacts on the near side may have made it easier for lava to flow onto the surface. The Moon is a very slightly scalene ellipsoid due to tidal stretching, with its long axis displaced 30° from facing

12240-432: The possibility of a much warmer lunar mantle than previously believed, at least on the near side where the deep crust is substantially warmer because of the greater concentration of radioactive elements. Evidence has been found for 2–10 million years old basaltic volcanism within the crater Lowell, inside the Orientale basin. Some combination of an initially hotter mantle and local enrichment of heat-producing elements in

12360-587: The prefix seleno- (as in selenography , the study of the physical features of the Moon) come from this Greek word. Artemis , the Greek goddess of the wilderness and the hunt, came to also be identified as the goddess of the Moon ( Selene ) and was sometimes called Cynthia , after her birthplace on Mount Cynthus . Her Roman equivalent is Diana . The names Luna, Cynthia, and Selene are reflected in technical terms for lunar orbits such as apolune , pericynthion and selenocentric . The astronomical symbol for

12480-436: The radius of the Moon. Its composition is not well understood, but is probably metallic iron alloyed with a small amount of sulfur and nickel; analyzes of the Moon's time-variable rotation suggest that it is at least partly molten. The pressure at the lunar core is estimated to be 5 GPa (49,000 atm). On average the Moon's surface gravity is 1.62  m/s ( 0.1654  g ; 5.318  ft/s ), about half of

12600-471: The regolith because of the Moon's gravity or are lost to space, either through solar radiation pressure or, if they are ionized, by being swept away by the solar wind's magnetic field. Studies of Moon magma samples retrieved by the Apollo missions demonstrate that the Moon had once possessed a relatively thick atmosphere for a period of 70 million years between 3 and 4 billion years ago. This atmosphere, sourced from gases ejected from lunar volcanic eruptions,

12720-472: The right; the English word crescent may however refer to the shape regardless of its orientation, except for the technical language of blazoning used in heraldry , where the word "increscent" refers to a crescent shape with its horns to the left, and "decrescent" refers to one with its horns to the right, while the word "crescent" on its own denotes a crescent shape with horns pointing upward. The shape of

12840-491: The ships in the Ottoman navy have that flag. Muhammad Ali , who became Pasha of Egypt in 1805, introduced the first national flag of Egypt, red with three white crescents, each accompanied by a white star. The association of the crescent with the Ottoman Empire appears to have resulted in a gradual association of the crescent shape with Islam in the 20th century. A Red Crescent appears to have been used as

12960-651: The sound that created the universe and stands for knowledge. The Chakra or disc-like weapon of Vishnu is often found mounted on the top of Vaishnava temples or incorporated into architectural designs. Images depicting Vishnu's four-armed Narayana form almost always include the Chakra in one of his hands. It is a general symbol for protection. Chakra is also known to symbolize the need to follow dharma and to condemn adharma. An array of Hindu, Buddhist, and some Jain deities are often depicted with multiple heads, arms, and other body parts, creating what one author refers to as

13080-567: The story of Dhruva the divine conch plays a special part. The warriors of ancient India would blow conch shells to announce battle, such as is famously represented in the beginning of the war of Kurukshetra in the Mahabharata , a famous Hindu epic. The conch shell is also a deep part of Hindu symbolic and religious tradition. Today most Hindus use the conch as a part of their religious practices, blowing it during worship at specific points, accompanied by ceremonial bells. Shankha also symbolizes

13200-456: The student by an able experienced teacher. The Shiva Lingam represents the deity Shiva , and is used as an icon of strength and fertility due to its sexual symbolism. Shivalinga (Sivalinga) is the most important and a popular symbolic representation of Shiva in Hinduism. It represents Shiva in his aspects of the creator, protector, and the destroyer in Shaiva traditions The word ‘Shivalinga’

13320-460: The surface gravity of Mars and about a sixth of Earth's. The Moon's gravitational field is not uniform. The details of the gravitational field have been measured through tracking the Doppler shift of radio signals emitted by orbiting spacecraft. The main lunar gravity features are mascons , large positive gravitational anomalies associated with some of the giant impact basins, partly caused by

13440-529: The symbol of Artemis - Diana , the virgin hunter goddess associated with the Moon. Numerous depictions show Artemis-Diana wearing the crescent Moon as part of her headdress. The related symbol of the star and crescent was the emblem of the Mithradates dynasty in the Kingdom of Pontus and was also used as the emblem of Byzantium . The crescent remained in use as an emblem in the Sasanian Empire, used as

13560-465: The three horizontal vibhuti lines of Shiva and the U-shaped urdhva pundra of Vishnu in an amalgam marker signifying Hari-Hara (Vishnu-Shiva). In addition, sacred ash signifies that the body's origin is from dust and ash, acting a marker of impermanence and a reminder of the illusory nature ( maya ) of existence. Rudraksha (📿) are seeds of the rudraksha tree that represent the tears of Shiva (also known as Rudra ). They are often threaded into

13680-653: The vahana; other times, the vahana is depicted at the deity's side or symbolically represented as a divine attribute. Vishnu is the Protector-God, also the God of Destruction. Of the three gods of the Hindu Triad, Vishnu, being the Preserver, appears most human. The Rig Vedic Vishnu is conceived as the sun in three stages - rising, zenith and setting. The Vedic Vishnu strides through the heavens in three steps. This

13800-446: The visual effect of an array of multiple arms is to create a kinetic energy showing that ability. Several Hindu deities are depicted in their Panchamukha (five-faced) aspect, as well as their Chaturbhuja (four-armed) aspect. Vāhana or vehicle, sometimes called a mount, is an animal or mythical entity closely associated with a particular deity in Hindu theology. Sometimes the deity is iconographically depicted riding and/or mounted on

13920-421: The waxing first quarter, while the symbol representing the waning final quarter is called "decrescent". The crescent symbol was long used as a symbol of the Moon in astrology , and by extension of Silver (as the corresponding metal ) in alchemy . The astrological use of the symbol is attested in early Greek papyri containing horoscopes . In the 2nd-century Bianchini's planisphere , the personification of

14040-446: The winter solstice in the north polar crater Hermite . This is the coldest temperature in the Solar System ever measured by a spacecraft, colder even than the surface of Pluto . Blanketed on top of the Moon's crust is a highly comminuted (broken into ever smaller particles) and impact gardened mostly gray surface layer called regolith , formed by impact processes. The finer regolith, the lunar soil of silicon dioxide glass, has

14160-411: The word) for the crescent-shaped pastry. Hindu iconography Traditional Over the millennia of its development, Hinduism has adopted several iconic symbols , forming part of Hindu iconography , that are imbued with spiritual meaning based on either the scriptures or cultural traditions. The exact significance accorded to any of the icons varies with region, period and denomination of

14280-424: Was initially in hydrostatic equilibrium but has since departed from this condition. It has a geochemically distinct crust , mantle , and core . The Moon has a solid iron-rich inner core with a radius possibly as small as 240 kilometres (150 mi) and a fluid outer core primarily made of liquid iron with a radius of roughly 300 kilometres (190 mi). Around the core is a partially molten boundary layer with

14400-401: Was twice the thickness of that of present-day Mars . The ancient lunar atmosphere was eventually stripped away by solar winds and dissipated into space. A permanent Moon dust cloud exists around the Moon, generated by small particles from comets. Estimates are 5 tons of comet particles strike the Moon's surface every 24 hours, resulting in the ejection of dust particles. The dust stays above

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