Facts About The Moon
- The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite and the fifth largest moon in the solar system.
- The Moon’s presence helps stabilize our planet’s wobble and moderate our climate.
- The Moon’s distance from Earth is about 240,000 miles (385,000km).
- The Moon has a very thin atmosphere called an exosphere.
- The Moon’s surface is cratered and pitted from comet and asteroid impacts.
What are some unique characteristics of the Moon?
Some Characteristics of the moon Are their low temperature extremes, their rotation movements, their day and night cycles or their low gravity force. The Moon is a natural satellite that orbits the planet Earth, with a radius of 1,079.6 miles (1,737.5 kilometers), is less than one-third the width of the Earth. It is the fifth largest natural ...
What are four features seen on the Moon surface?
The surface of the Moon has many features, including mountains and valleys, craters, and maria —wide flat areas that look like seas from a distance but are probably solidified molten rock. Some of these features are listed. Several large lunar valleys have been given names. What are the names of the lunar features?
What features on the Moon can you see from Earth?
The Top Five Features To Find On The Full Moon
- The lunar maria. These dark regions -- Latin for "seas" -- are solidified lava flows from between 3-3.5 billion years ago: a billion years younger than the majority of ...
- Montes Apenninus. The Moon's highest mountain range outlines Mare Imbrium, extending for over 400 km. ...
- Tycho crater. ...
- Copernicus crater. ...
- Oceanus Procellarum. ...
What features were the last to form on the Moon?
What features were the last to form on the moon? Rayed craters. Why has the surface of the moon only changed a little? If photographs were taken million years ago the surface would look the same. How old is the moon? Same age as earth. Which are associated with young craters? Rays.
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What are the major features of Moon?
The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth.It revolves round the earth in a definite regular path.The moon is about one fourth the size of the Earth and its weight is about one eighth of our Earth.Its surface is covered with hard and loose dirt, craters and mountains.More items...
What are five features of the Moon?
The Top Five Features To Find On The Full Moon1.) The lunar maria. ... 2.) Montes Apenninus. ... 3.) Tycho crater. ... 4.) Copernicus crater. ... 5.) Oceanus Procellarum.
What is the largest feature on the Moon?
Moon fact: The 8-kilometre-deep South Pole-Aitken Basin stretches across nearly a quarter of the lunar surface. It is the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon.
How many features does the Moon have?
The Moon has plains, mountains, valleys, an estimated 300,000 lunar craters, as well as rilles, lava domes, and other stunning features.
What are 3 features of the Moon?
Facts About The Moon The Moon's distance from Earth is about 240,000 miles (385,000km). The Moon has a very thin atmosphere called an exosphere. The Moon's surface is cratered and pitted from comet and asteroid impacts.
What are 3 features found on the Moon?
The surface of the Moon has many features, including mountains and valleys, craters, and maria—wide flat areas that look like seas from a distance but are probably solidified molten rock.
What are the major features of the Moon explain Class 6?
Answer: The moon has mountains, plateaus, plains and depressions on its surface. In the reflected light on the Earth these features look like shadows. Hence, we see shadows on the surface of the Moon.
What are the youngest features on the Moon?
The lunar maria (or plains), which were formed between 3.1 and 3.9 billion years ago, are the youngest geologic units on the lunar surface, except for more recent impact craters.
What are the oldest features on the Moon?
Answer and Explanation: The Lunar Highlands are the oldest features of our moon. These highlands are about four billion years old (the moon itself is considered to be about 4.4 billion years old) and were created by a huge crater after the impact of a large object, most likely a meteor, with the moon.
What is the brightest feature on the Moon?
Aristarchus is a lunar impact crater that lies in the northwest part of the Moon's near side. It is considered the brightest of the large formations on the lunar surface, with an albedo nearly double that of most lunar features.
Why is the Moon so special?
The Moon is unique in that it is the only spherical satellite orbiting a terrestrial planet. The reason for its shape is a result of its mass being great enough so that gravity pulls all of the Moon's matter toward its center equally. Another distinct property the Moon possesses lies in its size compared to the Earth.
What are 10 facts about moon?
10 amazing facts about the MoonThe Moon began with an explosive collision. ... It used to look much bigger. ... Moon dust smells like gunpowder. ... Surface temperatures reach boiling point. ... Those craters can unlock space history. ... You always see the same side of the Moon. ... The Moon causes tidal bulges.More items...•
What are the major features of the Moon explain Class 6?
Answer: The moon has mountains, plateaus, plains and depressions on its surface. In the reflected light on the Earth these features look like shadows. Hence, we see shadows on the surface of the Moon.
What are the oldest features on the Moon?
Answer and Explanation: The Lunar Highlands are the oldest features of our moon. These highlands are about four billion years old (the moon itself is considered to be about 4.4 billion years old) and were created by a huge crater after the impact of a large object, most likely a meteor, with the moon.
What features of the Moon can you see from Earth?
Looking at the Moon with only your eyes, you see mostly areas of white and gray. These gray patches are solidified volcanic lava flows. In the Moon's youth, its interior was still molten, and magma would erupt onto its surface.
What are the mountains on the Moon?
In contrast, the Moon’s mountains are much more ancient. They are what is left of gigantic impacts in the Moon’s young life. These impacts left huge inner craters surrounded by colossal rims that would later become mountain ranges. As the Moon was still volcanically active at that time, lava flowed across the surface.
How is lunar soil made?
The 382 kilograms of lunar soil brought back to Earth by the Apollo and Soviet Luna missions show it’s nothing like what you would find in your garden. Covering almost the entire surface, it was created from the constant bombardment of micrometeorites on the Moon for the last 4.5 billion years. This violent birth, when combined with the lack of wind and rain, has made it sand-like, made up of tiny sharp particles that are abrasive to the touch. Rich in oxygen, silicon, iron, calcium and magnesium, the only soil remotely similar on Earth is basalt rock found in volcanic regions like Fuji Mountain in Japan or Lake Bolsena in Italy.
Why is the moon darker than the rest of the moon?
Maria are darker than the rest of the surface because the volcanic rock they are made from is full of iron, which is less reflective than other Moon rock materials . Further impacts over the course of billions of years added more craters, shaping the Moon we see today.
What did Galileo Galilei see on the moon?
But then, over 400 years ago, Galileo Galilei pointed a telescope at the Moon for the first time. And what he saw was startling. The Moon’s surface had what looked like valleys, plains and mountains much like the distinctly unheavenly surface of the Earth. Galileo’s conclusion led him to search for imperfections in other objects in ...
Why did scientists clung to this idea for so long?
The reason they clung to this idea for so long was simple. If these circles were impact craters from bombardment, then the Earth should be similarly littered with them, which was clearly not the case . These scientists hadn’t accounted for two important features of our planet. Asteroids heading for Earth first have to get through our thick atmosphere, which destroys most before reaching the ground. For the ones that do manage to break through and smash to Earth, their imprint is usually buried or destroyed over millions of years by our continuously changing weather, climate and geology.
Where are the rays on the moon?
We now know that without our shield-like atmosphere and active climate and geology, the Earth would be the Moon’s doppelganger. And knowing how the lunar craters formed, we can also see that the streaks, known as ‘rays’, radiating from where the meteorites crash-landed are fresher material tossed out during impact. These rays are most visible in the crater named Copernicus. Located slightly west of the Moon's Earth-facing centre, it can be seen with the naked eye.
How deep is the South Pole?
Moon fact: The 8-kilometre-deep South Pole-Aitken Basin stretches across nearly a quarter of the lunar surface. It is the largest and oldest impact basin on the Moon. The violent asteroid crash that made this crater was around a thousand times more explosive than the one that ravaged the dinosaurs on Earth 65 million years ago.
Is There Water on the Moon?
However, in 2008, the Indian Chandrayaan-1 space mission detected hydroxyl molecules across the surface of the moon and at a concentration at the moon’s poles.
Why did no one give the moon its name?
No one ever gave the moon a real name because they didn’t think that there were any planets that had a moon (or moons). Now, we call all of the satellites orbiting a planet, their moons.
What is the moon covered in?
Almost the entire surface of the moon is covered in a charcoal-gray powdery dust and rocks that are called the “lunar regolith.”. Beneath the fractured bedrock area is a region called the “megaregolith.”. The dusty powder that is on the moon was thought to be similar to the dust on Earth.
Why do we only see one side of the moon?
The moon and the Earth are tidally-locked, so that the rotations are in sync and that’s why we only see one side of the moon all of the time. Anyone that has looked up at the night sky may recognize the face that everyone calls the “man in the moon.”. This is an illusion of a human face and it always faces the Earth.
How was the moon created?
It’s believe that the moon was created when there was a collision by a huge object with early Earth. Scientists think that the object had to be around the size of the planet Mars and when it collided, it took out big chunks from Earth that eventually formed together due to Earth’s gravitational pull.
What is the mantle of the moon made of?
It’s made up of mostly minerals such as olivine and pyroxene, and they are made up of magnesium, iron, silicon, and oxygen atoms.
Why did the spacesuits have sharp edges?
Without the benefit of erosion and wind like we have on Earth, the tiny particles of dust had sharp edges and it was the dust that was collecting on the spacesuits that was causing the slices as they moved in them.
What is Mare Crisium?
This 620x570km lunar sea is one of the most distinctive features on the Moon. Located close to the eastern limb, it’s clearly visible to the naked eye as a dark oval patch. Unlike the other seas, the Mare Crisium is completely detached. Its dark, smooth-looking floor has a higher boundary that shows fantastic shadows as the terminator approaches and crosses the sea.
What does upping magnification do?
Upping magnification by using shorter focal length eyepieces will get you in closer and give you opportunity to ‘roam’ around the lunar landscape.
What can you see on the moon with the naked eye?
Observing the Moon with the naked eye it’s easy to see the progression of lunar phases, full disc effects such as earthshine and the major lunar seas.
Why are lunar marias called seas?
Pre-telescopic observers noticed an unchanging pattern of darker patches that would later become known as lunar maria, or ‘seas’, because they were assumed to be vast bodies of water. They act as a Rorschach test for different cultures: the face of the ‘Man in the Moon’ observed in Western tradition, the ‘Rabbit’ pounding rice ...
What does high altitude mean on the moon?
While this is a good time to see the long, bright rays of ejecta surrounding prominent craters such as Tycho, the high altitude of the Sun in the lunar sky means no shadows are cast , resulting in a washed-out view of the Moon.
How long is the Vallis Alpes?
Cutting through the lunar Alps, the 130km-long Vallis Alpes is one of the most interesting features on the Moon’s surface. This valley can be spotted with even a small telescope.
Why do we see the same moon?
The reason we see the same lunar features staring back at us is because the Moon has a synchronous rotation with respect to Earth, meaning that spins once on its axis in the same 27.3 days (the sidereal month) it takes to complete an orbit of our planet.
What is the name of the ocean of storms?
Oceanus Procellarum. Ocean of Storms. 18.4° N. 57.4° W. 2568 km. There is also a region on the Lunar farside that was briefly misidentified as a mare and named Mare Desiderii (Sea of Dreams). It is no longer recognized. Other former maria include: Mare Parvum ("Small Sea"), immediately to the east of Inghirami.
What is a catena?
A catena is a chain of craters .
What are the surface features that are named after a nearby crater?
In addition to mountains, valleys, and impact craters, the following surface features have received names in the Lunar nomenclature, many of them named after a nearby crater or mountain. The listed diameter for these features is the longest dimension that contains the entire geological formation.
What are marias on the moon?
Maria features. Main article: List of maria on the Moon. Lunar maria (singular mare) are large, dark, regions of the Moon. They do not contain any water, but are believed to have been formed from molten rock from the Moon's mantle coming out onto the surface of the Moon. This list also includes the one oceanus and the features known by ...
What are the features of the moon?
List of lunar features. The surface of the Moon has many features, including mountains and valleys, craters, and maria —wide flat areas that look like seas from a distance but are probably solidified molten rock. Some of these features are listed.
How high is Clementine?
Clementine data show a range of about 18,100 meters from lowest to highest point on the Moon. The highest point, located on the far side of the Moon, is approximately 6500 meters higher than Mons Huygens (usually listed as the tallest mountain). Mountains are referred to using the Latin word mons (plural montes ).
Where are the albedo features on the Moon?
On the far side of the Moon there are unnamed albedo features on Mare Ingenii and Mare Marginis. These are located antipodal to the Mare Imbrium and Mare Orientale impact basins.
What is the largest crater on the moon?
Copernicus crater. Visible as the bright spot amidst the dark maria, Copernicus, at 107 km in diameter, offers the greatest visual contrast of any lunar crater to human eyes. The largest of the lunar maria, Oceanus Procellarum comprises more than 10% of the Moon's surface. ...
What is the name of the crater in the lunar highlands?
3.) Tycho crater. A highly-reflective impact crater over 100 km in diameter in the southern lunar highlands. Prominent rays emanate from the impact site. Samples collected by Apollo 16 determined Tycho's young age: 108 million years.
What is the largest moon in the world?
Oceanus Procellarum. The largest of all the lunar maria, it's the only one designated an ocean. It covers approximately 4 million km 2 and contained Apollo 12's landing site. The annotated prominent features -- many of which are naked-eye features -- of the near side of the ...
How old was Tycho when he was on the moon?
Prominent rays emanate from the impact site. Samples collected by Apollo 16 determined Tycho's young age: 108 million years . The full Moon, as imaged in 1992 by NASA's Galileo spacecraft.
What is the name of the dark region of the moon?
1.) The lunar maria. These dark regions -- Latin for "seas" -- are solidified lava flows from between 3-3.5 billion years ago: a billion years younger than the majority of the lunar surface. Mare Tranquillitatis contained Apollo 11's landing site.
What is the highest mountain on the Moon?
2.) Montes Apenninus. The Moon's highest mountain range outlines Mare Imbrium, extending for over 400 km. It contains Mons Huygens, the Moon's tallest mountain, and the Hadley–Apennine valley, where Apollo 15 landed.
What is the most unique sight in the night sky?
The full Moon, the most unique and recognizable sight in Earth's night sky, tells a remarkable story even to the naked eye. Here are the top five features you can discover for yourself.
Why is the moon called the moon?
It is the fifth largest natural satellite in the Solar System and was called"the moon"because people did not know that other moons existed until Galileo Galilei Discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610. The planet Earth is just a planet of all known and thousands to be known.
What are the characteristics of the moon?
Some Characteristics of the moon Are their low temperature extremes, their rotation movements, their day and night cycles or their low gravity force. The Moon is a natural satellite that orbits the planet Earth, with a radius of 1,079.6 miles (1,737.5 kilometers), is less than one-third the width of the Earth.
How many molecules does the moon have?
Unlike Earth, which has billions and billions of molecules per cubic centimeter, the moon may, with much effort, reach a few thousand molecules per cubic centimeter. This makes its"atmosphere"is not considered one, the lunar molecules form an exosphere call and this greatly affects their physical characteristics.
Why does the moon glow at night?
The reason it illuminates at night is because the moon acts as a mirror and reflects the light of the sun. Due to its dark color and surface unevenness, the Moon only reflects 18% of the light it receives, which is why its luminosity is not as intense as that of the Sun.
Why does the sky look blue on the moon?
On our planet the sky looks blue, because the solar rays pass through the atmospheric layers of the earth creating colorful prisms. That is why sometimes the sky is orange or even red.
Why is the moon always black?
The Moon has no atmosphere, therefore, its sky is always black.
What does the Moon reflect?
Depending on its position with respect to the Sun, it will illuminate different portions of the visible part of the Moon which in turn will reflect that light towards the Earth.
