The Earth's Moon
The Earth may only have one Moon, but it's a big one! The Earth's
Moon is the fifth largest in the whole solar system. But it is still
smaller than the Earth, so objects weigh less on the Moon than they do
here. That's why the astronauts could enjoy bouncing around on the
lunar surface.
Even though the Moon has no liquid water, it does have special "seas" and "land" on its surface. There are
also many interesting features such as craters, mountain ranges, and
lava plains. The interior of the Moon is made up of different layers
of rock, some solid and some molten like lava. By studying the Moon's
surface and interior, geologists can learn about the Moon's geological history and its formation.
The footprints left behind by the Apollo astronauts will last for many
thousands of years because there is no wind on the Moon. The Moon has
no atmosphere, so there is no weather to erase the footprints. On
the Earth, the atmosphere acts as a blanket, keeping the warmth of the
Sun in even at night. Because there is no atmosphere on the Moon, the
temperatures there are very hot during the day (100 ° C) and very cold
at night (-173 ° C).
The Moon doesn't produce its own light, but looks bright because it
reflects light from the Sun. Think of the Sun as a light bulb, and the
Moon as a mirror, reflecting light from the light bulb. The lunar phase changes as the
Moon orbits the Earth and
different portions of its surface are illuminated by the Sun.
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Looking up at the Moon, you can see that there are dark regions and light regions. With binoculars, you can even see that the dark regions are smooth compared to the light regions which have many craters.
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Scientists have studied the ages of rocks in areas with craters and determined when in the Moon's past the craters were forming most quickly. By studying the light-colored areas of the Moon, called highlands,
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The diagram shows the Moon in different positions along its orbit around the Earth. The Sun is far away and acts like a light bulb in this picture. Half of the Moon is always reflecting light from the
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All the planets except Venus and Mercury have moons. The Earth's Moon is the fifth largest in the whole solar system, and is bigger than the planet Pluto. Earth's gravity pulls on the Moon and keeps it
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The North and South Pole of the Moon are interesting places. Some areas near the Moon's poles are almost always in sunlight. Other places near the poles are always in dark shadows. Earth is tilted on its
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Currently, the theory that best explains all the evidence is the collisional ejection theory. This theory holds that the Moon formed from debris ejected from the Earth when a large object (possibly as
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The picture shows the moon's crust, about 60=150 km thick, followed by the lithosphere, shown in blue. The moon's lithosphere is the major portion of the interior, about 1000 km thick. The moon's core
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Radar images of the Moon's surface have suggested that water exists on the Moon. The images of the Moon's south pole region show a patch of ice about 16 feet thick. One theory suggests that the ice came
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