I captured the moon setting over the city of Barrie a a couple if weekends ago.
I have an app that shows exactly where and when the moon rises and sets based on your location. Makes composing a photograph much easier.
It's easy to take the Moon for granted, even on a clear night when it can light up the sky. It really feels as if it has always been there just as it is now, throughout history. But that's not strictly true.
It is thought that the Moon was formed when a proto-planet about the size of Mars collided with the early Earth around 4.5b years ago. The debris left over from impact coalesced to form the Moon.
The Moon does more than light up the night sky. It makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate.
So the next time you see the Moon, remember that without it, the Earth's tilt could vary wildly which could mean no seasons or extreme weather, even ice ages.
