One of These Days, Alice...Bang! Zoom! Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

OReviewer: From the Northern Region Office, New Jersey State Parks Department:

Over a year ago New Jersey enacted a policy that all geocachers must obtain a permit to have their cache on State Park property. We have informed all geocaching host that this is their responsibility and have given them ample time to go about getting their permits. At this time, over a year later, there are still several caches that haven’t complied.

We ask that as the land managers for the attached properties we would like to have these illegal caches removed.

Based on the list provided by the state, I am forced to archive this listing. If you have a permit, get a permit or don't believe your cache is on state park/forest land, please contact me via email. Make sure you include the GC code.

If you don't plan to get a permit, please remove your geocache so it doesn't become geo-trash.

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Hidden : 2/15/2009
Difficulty:
3.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

The cache is NOT at the posted coordinates, but there is parking nearby at The Edwin E. Aldrin Astronomical Center and The Paul H. Robinson Observatory, which houses the largest telescope in New Jersey open to the public.

This cache is dedicated to the Moon, Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest natural satellite in the Solar System. It is also the only other celestial body to which humans have physically traveled. The Moon is actually a rather large natural satellite for a planet of Earth's size. Many theories exist regarding how the Moon was formed, including that the Moon and Earth formed at the same time from the same material, that the Moon was flung off through centrifugal force from a rapidly spinning proto-Earth, or that the Moon was a wandering asteroid that was captured by Earth's gravity. However, the most plausible theory to date is that the Moon was formed after the Earth collided with a Mars-sized object that flung debris out into orbit that eventually coalesced into what we see today.

The Moon is in synchronous rotation, which means that it rotates about its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit the Earth. This results in nearly the same face turned towards the Earth at all times. The Moon used to rotate at a faster rate, but early in its history, its rotation slowed and became locked in the current orientation as a result of frictional effects associated with tidal deformations caused by the Earth. The side of the Moon that faces Earth is called the near side, and the opposite side the far side. The far side is often inaccurately called the "dark side," but it is, in fact, illuminated exactly as often as the near side. The far side of the Moon was first photographed by the Soviet probe Luna 3 in 1959.
The Near Side ........................The Far Side
The Near Side The Far Side
The Moon's surface is covered by impact craters which formed when meteors and comets collided with the lunar surface. There are about half a million craters with diameters greater than 1 km on the Moon. The largest crater, which is one of the largest known craters in the Solar System, is the South Pole-Aitken basin. Located on the far side between the South Pole and equator, this crater is approximately 2,240 km in diameter and 13 km deep. The dark and relatively featureless lunar plains which can clearly be seen with the naked eye are called maria, Latin for seas, since they were believed by ancient astronomers to be filled with water. These are now known to be vast solidified pools of ancient basaltic lava. The majority of these lavas erupted or flowed into impact basins formed by the collisions of meteors and comets with the lunar surface. The lighter-colored regions of the Moon are called terrae, or more commonly just highlands, since they are higher than most maria. Several prominent mountain ranges on the near side are found along the periphery of the giant impact basins and are believed to be the surviving remnants of the impact basin's outer rims.
The Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth with respect to the fixed stars (its sidereal period) about once every 27.3 days. However, since the Earth is moving in its orbit about the Sun at the same time, it takes slightly longer for the Moon to show its same phase to Earth, which is about 29.5 days (its synodic period). Lunar phases are the result of looking at the illuminated half of the Moon from different viewing geometries during the Moon’s orbit. When the Sun and Moon are aligned on the same side of the Earth, the Moon is "new", and the side of the Moon visible from Earth is not illuminated by the Sun. In the Northern Hemisphere, if the left side of the Moon is dark then the light part is growing from right to left, the Moon is referred to as waxing. If the right side of the Moon is dark then the light part is shrinking, and the Moon is referred to as waning. Due to another geometrical perspective difference, these phases appear reversed in the Southern Hemisphere, with the Moon appearing to wax and wane from left to right.



To solve the puzzle, let the Moon be your guide. The cache is located at:

N
(15Jul1976; 26Nov1924)
(05Apr1912; 13Jun1945)
(11Dec2015; 15Mar1918; 18Jul1969; 26Jan2009)

W
(05Sep1978; 22Jan1950; 02Jun1960)
(04Oct1931; 22Nov1994)
(07May2000; 08Aug1988; 11Mar1952; 12Apr1906)


Additional Hints ()

Chmmyr: 1) Vg vf orggre gb hfr nyznanp-fglyr gnoyrf gb svaq phgbss qngrf. 2) Qba'g nffhzr gung gur Zna va gur Zbba unf gur fnzr ahzore bs svatref nf jr qb. Svany: Nzzb pna + Obhyqre Svryq = Gbhtu Svaq

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)

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