What can we learn about the moon?

Have you ever took a look at the moon in the sky at night?

Well, some times I see it like this

It’s a little bit dark

And other times I see it like this

Now it’s shinny

So is the moon really shinny or not?The moon is not shinny, it only appears shinny to us because it reflects the sunlight.

The properties of the moon:- Low let’s take a journey up to the moon & take a closer look at it.

(1 )Size-First if we take a look from our space ship, we’ll see that the moon is smaller than the earth

(2 )The temperature

-During daytime: The temperature on the moon is so hot that could boil water.

-During night time: It’s so cold , colder than any place on earth.

(3 )Rocks

- The rocks of the moon are similar to the rocks of the earth.

(4 )Air & Water

-There is no water on the moon at all.

-Also, there is no air on the surface of the moon & that’s why astronauts wear oxygen cylinders when they travel to the moon.

(5 )Surface

-The surface of the moon contain few tall mountains and flat plains.

-Most of the surface is covered with craters (hollow pit in the ground caused by meteoroids)

- Every day the ocean’s water rises & fall again,

this is called: tides

The Earth’s tides

The Earth’s tides: The daily rise and fall of the ocean’s surface.

High tide Low tide

What do you think cause the earth’s tides?

The moon has gravity, it pulls the earth slightly, on the side of the earth that faces the moon, water of the ocean bulges outwards( High tide)The moon pulls the earth more than the sun, because it’s closer to the earth.

There is something about the moon that confuses me, some

times it has different shapes in the sky

No dear, the moon doesn’t have different shapes, it just have

different phases

Phases???? What does this word means?

Well, let’s learn all about this word “phases”

The phases of the moonRemember that: the moon is not shinny, but we only see it shinny because it reflect the sunlight , this is why it

appears to us lightened.

What is the lunar phases?-The moon is a sphere “like a ball” that rotates

around the earth.-It takes 29 days for the moon to make one

complete rotation around the moon.-As the moon rotates around the earth, different

parts of the moon appears to us and it depends on the amount of the part of the moon that is lit by the sun.

-These different parts are called: “Lunar phases”

What causes parts of the moon to be lit up?

- The moon is illuminated because it reflects the light from the sun. The part of the moon facing the sun is lit up. The part facing away from the sun is in darkness.

What causes the different phases of the moon?

- The phases of the Moon depend on its position in relation to the Sun and Earth. As the Moon makes its way around the Earth, we see the bright parts of the Moon's surface at different angles. These are called "phases" of the Moon.

The Moon phases

Phase (1)The New

moon -It occur when the moon is between the sun & the earth.- The moon looks totally dark in this phase, because the lit part of the moon Is away from the sun & we can only see the dark side of the sun.

Phase (2)Waxing crescent

- As the moon start to move around the earth, a small part of the moonstart to appear to us “on the earth”-Now the moon is called: Waxing crescent (Waxing = Appearing)

It looks like a croissant

Phase (3)First

quarter-As the moon move around the earth, a bigger part is start to appear now and we can see a bigger part of the moon.- Now the moon is called: “First quarter”

It looks like half an orange

Phase (4)Waxing Gibbous

-The moon continues to move around the earth, so bigger part start to appear.-Now the moon is called: “Waxing gibbous”

Phase (5)Full Moon

-Now we can see the moon completely, it’s totally shinny & very beautiful-This phase of the moon is called: “Full moon”

It looks like a ball or a sphere

Phase (6)Waning Gibbous

-As the moon moves, it start to disappear once again, and once more we start to see only a part of it.- This phase now is called : “ Waning gibbous”

“Waning = Disappearing”

Phase (7)Third quarter

-The moon again becomes half –shinny & half-dark , but this time the left side is the shinny side- This phase is called: “ Third quarter”

Phase (8)Waning crescent

-Now the moon is disappearing & only a small part of it on the left side is still shinning.- This phase is called: “Waning crescent”