MOON

Last updated:

USA[08/02/19]

NZL[02/08/19]

-[Introduction|Distance|Size|Ocean Tides]

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, which gives us light at night and is the closest celestial body to us. It is located around 384,400 km away from Earth, meaning we can study it more than any other celestial body. Even though the Moon is the closest to Earth, it is slowly drifting away. It moves around 3.8 cm away from Earth each year! There are many Moons in the Solar System, but our Moon is only the fifth-largest in the entire system. The Moon also doesn't only give us light at night but also controls the oceans rise and fall of tides. Two bulges exist due to the gravitational pull the Moon exerts. One is on the side facing the Moon and the other on the side facing away from it. These bulges move around the oceans as the Earth rotates which causes the high and low tides found across the globe.

-[Weight|Atmosphere|Temperature|Moonquakes]

The Moons gravity is a lot weaker than Earth's because of its smaller mass. This means you would weight around one-sixth of your weight on Earth. You also might realize that the Moon has a lot of craters[Over 500,000 to be exact]. This is because the Moon has a similar problem to Mercury. They both don't have atmospheres meaning there is no protection for the surface from meteorites, asteroids, comets, cosmic rays, and solar flares. This is also why the Moon has such a huge temperature variation. The Moon also has Moon quakes! The gravitational pull of Earth causes small moonquakes several kilometers beneath the surface - causing ruptures and cracks. It is believed that, like Earth, the Moon has a molten core.

-[Moon Phases|Moon's Side]

The lunar phase or phase of the Moon is the shape of the directly sunlit portion of the Moon as viewed from Earth. There are 8 phases[In order]New moon, waxing crescent, first quarter, waxing gibbous, full moon, waning gibbous, last quarter and finally waning crescent. After waning crescent, it goes back to full moon and starts again. We also never see the other side of the Moon! The same side of the Moon is always facing Earth!

-Notes-

Type- Natural Satellite

Made of- Rocks

Temperature- Night (-183 C) Day (106 C)

Diameter- 3,474.2 km

Mass- 7.34767309 × 1022 kilograms

Distance from Earth- 384,400 km

Images below of the Moon-