Earth’s Moon
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Transcript of Earth’s Moon
EARTH’S MOON
THE MOON ROTATES AS IT ORBITS EARTH
The moon’s diameter is about ¼ Earth’s diameter
The pull of gravity keeps the Moon in orbit around the Earth.
The Moon is earth’s closest neighbor in space.
The distance between Earth and the moon is about 240,000 miles
100 X the Distance from: NYC to LA
It takes a spaceship
about 3 days to reach
the moon
It would take a jet
liner 20 days to
reach the moon
Only one side of the Moon can be seen from Earth, “The Near Side”
It takes the Moon 27.3 days to orbit the Earth
The Moon’s CratersFar side – Side of the Moon that faces away from EarthNearside – Side of the
Moon that faces towards EarthCovered with a lot of dark-colored featuresCovered with few dark-colored features
Early astronomers thought that the dark areas might be bodies of water, so they called the
areas MARA. This means “sea” in Latin.
The moon has…NO AIR
NO OCEANS
NO CLOUDSNO LIFE
CRESCENT VS. GIBBOUS MOONS
The amount of the Moon that you see from Earth depends on the angle between the
Moon and the Sun.When the angle between the Sun and the Moon is small, you see a small amount of the Moon.
When the angle between the Sun and the Moon is large, you see a large amount of the Moon.When the Moon
appears close to the Sun in the sky
When the Moon appears far away from the Sun in the sky
ECLIPSES
When the Moon, the Sun, and the Earth line up exactly, a shadow crosses Earth or the Moon.
An eclipse occurs when a shadow makes the Sun or the Moon seem to grow dark.
LUNAR ECLIPSES
The Moon becomes dark during a lunar eclipse
because it passes through Earth’s shadow.
Lunar Eclipses only occur during the FULL moon!
2 PARTS OF EARTH’S SHADOW
Umbra Penumbra**Is the darkest part of Earth’s Shadow
**Is a spreading cone of lighter shadow
**The entire Moon can be in darkness because the Moon is small enough to fit entirely within Earth’s umbra.
**The Moon moves into Earth’s penumbra and becomes slightly less bright.
SOLAR ECLIPSES**Occurs when the Moon passes directly between Earth and the Sun.