Studying craters on the moon is popular with observers. For learning practical discipines in observation, it is a wonderful subject. We have children and teachers look at a picture, make a crater with mud (a very fun task in itself for many), put a light at varying angles on a model to represent the sun, fix the light angle, then draw what they see. We also look at pictures to see the wide variety of features that tell us things about the size and nature of the impact.
BUT, the biggest question that always gets brought up is simple: where did the moon come from? The holes in a nebular hypothesis are getting larger by the year, so that does not work. Recession in the orbit provides a high side for moon age that is a wrong answer for today’s long-age guesses, so that does not work. The list could go on, which a person can investigate by going to www.creation.com and entering these search words: moon, origins, and craters. There are summaries of both naturalistic ideas and a biblical history-based facts. Even from a biblical creation standpoint, since God did not specify details, we can only reasonably guess at what happened. We do know that the moon was “good” along with the rest of what is in the heavens at the very start, but we know some dramatic events that changed things a short time later.
In any case, the moon is ‘in your face’ during a good portion of the lunar cycle, so observing its craters is a really fun thing to do. Once in awhile, I brace myself (because it is a tense task) and use oil paints to grab a crater. The painting at the end of this little post is an example of an hour and a half session with the craters Aristoteles and Mitchell.
Aristoteles and Mitchell are pretty good sized craters. Craters are the evidence of the violent impacts across the lunar surface give evidence of an incredible catastrophe. It is reasonably concluded by several biblical creation scientists that the event was days in length and may have occurred at the beginning of the Genesis flood event. it is a matter of history or historical science, which is different than observational science, since no one was there.
I recommend reading on the subject, but please go outside and observe the moon. We are privileged with a planetary body so close that we can easily see it. The light play on the surface is periodic, but every session of observing is a little different because of atmosphere or equipment we use. For more guidance in observing, get the Astronomical Observing from a Biblical View from this site to get more information. It is free to download. Addendum 2 of the course is devoted to helping an observer understand when to catch the moon at its various stages and and several AOBV lessons deal with the techniques for accurate observing by sketching and making notes. Observations can start with someone who knows nothing about drawing. Just grab a paper and pencil and follow a few disciplines that are presented in the course to get started. You don’t need a fancy telescope to start. Eyes or a low power binocular will do. Crater study needs a small telescope.
Be forewarned: the question of origins always comes up in groups. What is your answer? I know what most school systems teach, but it comes from a naturalistic view that describes the moon’s arrival as a very long term accident without direction (4.5 billion years in the past). There are huge problems with that view. And, the explanations leave out the assumptions, the problems with the speculations, and more recent information. God is clear about it in the first chapter of Genesis. He tends to tell the truth.
