Moon Split Images
This article refutes the claim that there is photographic evidence to support the Muslim belief that Prophet Muhammad split the moon.
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[edit] Muslim Claim
Many Muslims believe that while Muhammad was in Mecca, Allah split the moon as a miracle for Muhammad to the Meccans.
To back up this claim, some use the following close-up pictures of the moon taken by NASA as evidence:
[edit] Analysis
[edit] Lunar Rilles
The "spilt" you see is in fact a lunar rille. Rilles are long and deep gorges resembling canyons. A rille is typically several kilometers wide and hundreds of kilometers in length. Similar formations are found on a number of planets in the solar system, including Mars, Venus, and on a number of moons.
How these rilles are formed is still not known with certainty. Theories include erosion at some point in the stellar body's history, collapsed lava tubes, and tectonic activity/stresses.
[edit] Types of Rilles
There are three types of rilles on the lunar surface:
- Sinuous rilles meander in a curved path like a river, and are commonly thought to be the remains of collapsed lava tubes or extinct lava flows. They usually begin at an extinct volcano, then meander and sometimes split as they are followed across the surface.
- Arcuate rilles have a smooth curve and are found on the edges of the dark lunar maria. They are believed to form when the lava flows that created a mare cools, contracts, and sinks.
- Straight rilles follow long, linear paths and are believed to be grabens. That is, a section of the crust that has sunk between two parallel faults. These can be readily identified when they pass through craters or mountain ranges.
Rilles can be found all over the lunar surface and they do not form a belt and therefore do not in anyway support the claim of Muslims that the moon had been split asunder.
[edit] Images of Rilles
To understand how rilles scar the surface of the moon, we have to take a look at pictures showing the moon from farther up. Do these gorges look like they are cutting the moon in two halves?
Martian rilles
Venetian rilles
This is Europa, one of Jupiter's moons
[edit] Rima Ariadaeus
The rille image used by Muslims to support the belief that Muhammad split the moon is named Rima Ariadaeus. It is found on the Moon at 6.4°N 14.0°E, and is named after the crater Ariadaeus, which marks its eastern end. It is a linear rille which is about 300km long and barely covers 3% of the Moon's circumference.
[edit] See Also
- Moon Split Miracle - A hub page that leads to other articles related to the Moon Split Miracle
[edit] External Links
- Moon Split Miracle Chain Letter - Brett Christensen, Hoax-Slayer, September 7, 2010
- Rima Ariadaeus - Wikipedia, September 14, 2012
