The Moon is the source of many folk tales, myths, and legends.
Europeans once saw a face on the lunar surface and called it the Man in the Moon, who was thought to be imprisoned there for some terrible crime. Hawaiians gazing at the Moon saw a woman, while Mayans looking at it saw a rabbit. All of these Moon myths do have one thing in common. They were people’s attempts to explain something that appeared unexplainable.

▲ The first people to study the heavens seriously were astrologers in ancient Babylon. They believed that the way the Sun, Moon, and stars lined up could bring good or bad fortune. Astrology laid the foundation for the science of astronomy, but scientists now consider astrology a superstition.

◀ In 376 B.C., Athenian philosopher Anaxagoras (an-aks-AG-oo-ras) correctly explained why eclipses happen. He became the first person to accomplish that. However, his teachings also stated that the Sun and Moon were not gods, so he was hounded out of Athens.


▲ Ancient Chinese astronomers could predict eclipses. However, they believed that during a solar eclipse, the Moon’s shadow was really an invisible dragon eating the Sun. They shot arrows into the sky and banged gongs to chase it off. People in Africa, North America, and the Pacific Islands have also used noise to “save” the Sun.

◀ In the Middle Ages, Europeans believed in werewolves, or people who were transformed into wolves. The monsters supposedly came out and attacked people during the full Moon.
In 1504, Christopher Columbus and his crew were stranded in Jamaica, where the native people refused to help. Three days before a lunar eclipse was due to happen, Columbus told the chiefs that God was angry at them and would show it in the heavens. The chiefs scoffed. When the eclipse occurred, they rushed to Columbus with food. ▶
Check It Out!
When does “once in a blue Moon” actually occur?
In 1946, the magazine Sky and Telescope made a mistake. It said that a blue Moon was a second full Moon in a calendar month (something unusual). Actually, a blue Moon is the third full Moon during a season that has four full Moons (also unusual). Sky and Telescope did not catch the error until 1999. But by then, the wrong definition had been widely reported and is now commonly believed.

The first known calendars were based on the phases of the Moon. Today, we use the 365-day solar Gregorian calendar, which is based on the time it takes Earth to orbit the Sun. Months (from the word moon) are a tribute to the 29.5 days it takes to go from one new Moon to another. ▶


Johannes Kepler was an astronomer who studied the orbits of planets. He wrote that lunar craters were built by aliens. In the early 1800s, German astronomer F. P. Gruithuisen disproved that by showing that craters were caused by the impact of foreign objects. But Gruithuisen hurt his own credibility by also saying he had spotted a walled city on the Moon.

Think Piece!
Painters and photographers explore the way the Moon seems to change. What type of mood do you think Vincent van Gogh was trying to capture with this painting?

◀ The Moon has long been significant in religions. The crescent Moon can be seen atop mosques and in the flags of some Muslim countries, such as Turkey.