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Jul 11, 2015 · But there is a place that we can go to learn more about the past of our own planet: the moon. In sharp contrast to Earth’s surface, that of the moon is covered with thousands of craters of all ...
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It goes around the Earth at a distance of about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). The Earth and Moon are tidally locked. Their rotations are so in sync we only see one side of the Moon. Humans didn't see the lunar far side until a Soviet spacecraft flew past in 1959.
The Moon makes Earth more livable by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years. The Moon rotates exactly once each time it orbits our planet. Observers on Earth can track the Moon's motion in space (relative to ...
With a radius of about 1,080 miles (1,740 kilometers), the Moon is less than a third of the width of Earth. If Earth were the size of a nickel, the Moon would be about as big as a coffee bean. The Moon is an average of 238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers) away. That means 30 Earth-sized planets could fit in between Earth and the Moon.
- Why Does It Look Like The Moon Is Changing Shape?
- Is There Actually A “Dark Side" of The Moon?
- How Did The Moon form?
- How Do We Study The Moon?
- What Do We Know About The Moon?
From Earth, it might look like the Moon is changing shapeeach night – from a tiny sliver to a half moon to a full moon and back again. What’s actually happening is that from our spot on Earth, we see different parts of the Moon lit up by the Sun as the Moon travels in its orbit.
No. The Moon rotates on its own axis at the same rate that it orbits around Earth. That means we always see the same side of the Moon from our position on Earth. The side we don't see gets just as much light, so a more accurate name for that part of the Moon is the "far side."
Scientists believe that the Moon formed early in the solar system’s history after Earth and an object about the size of Mars smashed into each other. The impact sent chunks of Earth and the impactor into space that were pulled together by gravity, creating the Moon.
Even thousands of years ago, humans drew pictures to track the changes of the Moon. Later, people used their observations of the Moon to create calendars. Today, we study the Moon using telescopes and spacecraft. For example, NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been circling the Moon and sending back measurements since 2009. The Moon is the onl...
Today, we know that the Moon is covered by cratersas well as dust and debris from comets, asteroids and meteoroid impacts. We know that the Moon’s dark areas, called maria – which is Latin for seas – are not actually seas. Instead, they are craters that lava seeped into billions of years ago. We know that the Moon has almost no atmosphere and only ...
Feb 25, 2019 · Error: Timeout of 10000ms exceeded. This view from the Apollo 11 spacecraft shows the Earth rising above the moon's horizon. NASA. In the vast expanse of our solar system, there is one place that, in some ways, we know even better than parts of Earth. It’s a spinning rock that’s a constant throughout our lives: our natural satellite, the Moon.
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May 23, 2023 · Seasons. Exploration. The moon is Earth's most constant companion and the easiest celestial object to find in the night sky. The rhythm of the phases of the moon has guided humanity for millennia ...
