The Moon

The brightest extraterrestrial object at night, the moon is the only satellite of the earth. It derives its illumination from reflected sunlight. As it travels around the earth, the visible amount of sunlit area changes day by day so that it creates a cycle of lunar phase. From New moon to full moon there is waxing of the moon’s visible area. And after the full moon and back to the new moon there is a waning of the moon’s visible area. Craters on the surface of the moon are the result of massive bombardment of meteors in the last billion of years.  

                       

The moon is an airless, waterless and lifeless earth satellite. It is about 384,400 kilometers from the earth, and is about a quarter of its size. It orbits the earth at an average rate of 27.3 earth days on an average velocity of 1 kilometer per second. A complete rotation of the moon has also an average of 27.3 earth days. This synchronization of motion is the reason why only one side of the moon or the near side is turned toward the earth in many days. The other or far side is always faced away from the earth. 

Earth’s gravitational pull affects moon’s orbital and rotational motions. The moon has only about 16 per cent of the earth’s gravity. However, the moon causes the level of water in the seas and oceans to rise or fall. Its gravitational pull is the cause of the phenomena which are called high tide and low tide.

Man is awed by the brightest spectacle in the night sky since time immemorial. In reverence to the moon, ancient people considered or made it their god. There were several moon gods in different places in ancient cultures. The word lunatic from the Latin “luna” or moon describes a person whose sanity is affected by a particular phase of the moon.     

                     

Malasag Mountain

Malasag Mountain (background)

Mount Malasag is one of the natural prominent terrain features that can be seen from the heart of Cagayan de Oro City, Philippines. It is the home of Malasag Eco-tourism Village and Mapawa Nature Park which are some of the destinations of local and foreign tourists who come to the city. The mountain is also the home of government agencies such as Department of Natural Resources (DENR) and PHILVOCS.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

At present Climate Change has made the government and the people of the city to be concerned with the danger it poses to the environment. Mount Malasag being a government-protected watershed area that is close to the city becomes a place where people from private and government sectors can show their care to the environment by planting trees to preserve and nurture the forest. 

The mountain can be reached through a road that goes to the two nature parks. Wild and cultivated trees, mountainous terrains and songs of birds greet visitors who pass along the road going to the parks. An added bonus is the view of Macajalar Bay and the coastal area that is north and east of the city. In them are some of the built up areas that include the port of the city, the Philippine Packing Corporation and the different residential areas and business establishments. The beautiful scenes and the pleasant surroundings make the mountain an ideal refuge from the hustles and bustles of the urban life. It is also a good place to do wildlife and landscape photography.