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Moon's Bulge Explained

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the put-some-cream-on-that dept.

anthemaniac writes "The moon has an unexplained bulge that astronomers have been trying to find a source for since 1799. Finally, an apparent answer: The equatorial bulge developed back when the developing moon was like molasses (and you thought it was cheese!) and, rather than today's nearly circular orbit, it 'moved in an eccentric oval-shaped orbit 100 million years after its violent formation.'"

21 of 204 comments (clear)

  1. no by GigsVT · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's just happy to see you.

    --
    I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
    1. Re:no by DurendalMac · · Score: 2, Funny

      Well, seeing as this is a moon, it could just be prairie doggin'. When it finally squeezed that bulge out, we're all gonna be fucked.

  2. Uh huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny

    Its nothing more than a little baby fat.

  3. Come on people, give the moon a break... by Bamafan77 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Everyone knows your metabolism slows down after a certain age. Still though, a half hour a day on the treadmill probably wouldn't hurt either.

    1. Re:Come on people, give the moon a break... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      30 minutes a day on the treadmill? The fucker goes 1km/sec ALL DAY LONG!

      YOU do that, fat-ass!

    2. Re:Come on people, give the moon a break... by 19thNervousBreakdown · · Score: 4, Funny

      (Wait, the moon IS a chick, isn't it?)

      Hmm. So beautiful it inspires poetry, so attractive it pulls the sea, and men feel compelled to spend more than they can afford just to walk all over it. Oh, and let's not forget, every 28 days it swells and causes dogs to howl.

      I think you're on the right track.

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      <xml><I><am><so><damn>Web 2.0</damn></so></am></I></xml>
    3. Re:Come on people, give the moon a break... by KDR_11k · · Score: 2, Funny

      Oh come on, once we drag relativity into this we have to add the speed of the sun and the galactic core.

      And why am I not getting thinner from making 30km/sec???

      --
      Justice is the sheep getting arrested while an impartial judge declares the vote void.
  4. The answer is apparent. by BoBathan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Bulge at the equator, violent formation, clearly the Moon is American.

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    EOF
  5. sometimes... things come to mind... by CarnivoreMan · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well... perhaps the man in the moon was thinkin about some of them women from Venus....

  6. Excellent... by Quaoar · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now when I have to explain the bulge in my pants, I'll say it's because I'm eccentric! /Badump bump

    --
    I'll form my OWN solar system! With blackjack! And hookers!
  7. scientific explanation debunked by peektwice · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's a codpiece.

    --
    Other than this text, there is no discernible information contained in this sig.
  8. Monolith? by wingfoot · · Score: 4, Funny

    There wouldn't happen to be a strong magnetic field at the bulge would there....? How about a black monolith buried beneath the surface causing the bulge....?

  9. Like a dinosaur by Namarrgon · · Score: 4, Funny

    It's thin at one end, much much thicker in the middle, and thin again at the other end.

    I have another theory, you know...

    --
    Why would anyone engrave "Elbereth"?
  10. It's quite simple actually... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    It's where they covered up the "CHA" that Chairface Chippendale put there. They used a little too much moondust.

  11. Re:Missing energy by frankyfranky · · Score: 1, Funny

    May I be the first to say...

    What the fuck?

  12. shapes by ah247msg · · Score: 4, Funny

    I wish the bulge around my middle had as good an explanation... adam0@247msg.com

  13. mmmm.... by denttford · · Score: 5, Funny

    Space Beer.

    --

    Leben Sie jetzt die Fragen.
  14. Re:no... I thought it was just by davidsyes · · Score: 2, Funny

    "MOONING" da HOEs (Humans on Earth)

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    Previously: "Linux... Toward the Sunrise..." Now: "Linux... Toward the-- No, now, part of Every Sunrise"
  15. Fondue by fattybob · · Score: 3, Funny

    Mollases is more of a textural camparsion, but it must be remembered that this occured as the moon cooled, cooling from molten to solid cheese, so perhaps a better explanation would be that the bulge occured during cooling while the moon was like Fondue.

  16. Actually... by ackthpt · · Score: 2, Funny

    Well there goes the middle-age spread excuse.

    Acutally it's still digesting Earth's former "other" moon.

    --

    A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
  17. Re:I don't think so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    The moon is actually a spaceship. 4, Informative

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