The Moon A look at our nearest neighbor in Space! PPT

1. What is the Moon:

•         A natural satellite

•         One of more than 96 moons in our Solar System

•         The only moon of the planet Earth

2. Location, location, location!

•         About 384,000 km from Earth

•         3,468 km in diameter (about ¼ the size of Earth)

3. Cut to the Core

•         3 major divisions of the Lunar interior

•         Crust - average thickness of about 70 kilometers

•         Mantle

•         Core - radius is between 300 and 425 kilometers

4. The Moon’s Surface

•         No atmosphere

•         No liquid water

•         Extreme temperatures

   Daytime =   130°C            Nighttime =   -190°C

1/6 Earth’s gravity

5. Lunar Features – Highlands

•         Mountains up to 7500 m tall

•         Rilles (trenchlike valleys)

6. Lunar Features – Craters

•         Up to 2500 km across

•         Most formed by meteorite impact on the Moon

•         Some formed by volcanic action inside the Moon

7. Lunar Features – Maria

•         Originally thought to be “seas” by early astronomers

•         Darkest parts of lunar landscape

•         Filled by lava after crash of huge meteorites on lunar surface 3-4 billion years ago

•         Mostly basalt rock

8. Movements of the Moon

•         Revolution – Moon orbits the Earth every 27.3 days

•         The moon rises in the east and sets in the west

•         The moon rises and sets 50 minutes later each day

•         Rotation – Moon turns on its axis every 27.3 days

•         Same side of Moon always faces Earth

9. Far Side of the Moon

•         First seen by Luna 3 Russian space probe in 1959

•         Surface features different from near side

–       More craters

–       Very few maria

–       Thicker crust

10. It’s Just a Phase

•         Moonlight is reflected sunlight

•         Half the moon’s surface is always reflecting light

•         From Earth we see different amounts of the Moon’s lit surface

•         The amount seen is called a “phase”

11. Waxing and Waning

•         New moon

•         Waxing Crescent moon

•         First Quarter moon

•         Waxing Gibbous moon

•         Full moon

•         Waning Gibbous moon

•         Third Quarter moon

•         Waning Crescent moon

•         New moon

12. FOUR MAIN SHAPES

             FULL, CRESCENT, QUARTER, GIBBOUS

13. Moon Rise Times

The new moon always rises at sunrise.

The first quarter moon rises at noon.

The full moon rises at sunset.

The last quarter moon rises at midnight.

Moonrise takes place about 50 minutes later each day than the day before

14. Lunar Eclipses

•         Moon moves into Earth’s shadow – this shadow darkens the Moon

–       Umbra: complete or perfect shadow, direct light from source is cut off

–       Penumbra: partial or imperfect shadow, direct light from source only partially cut off

•         About 2-3 per year

•         Last up to 4 hours

15. Solar Eclipses

•         Moon moves between Earth and Sun

•         Moon casts a shadow on part of the Earth

•         Total eclipses rare – only once every 360 years from one location!

16. The Tides

•         Tides caused by pull of Moon’s gravity on Earth

•         High tide –

–       Side facing Moon and side away from Moon

–       Every 12 hours, 25 ½ minutes

•         Low tide –

–       On sides of Earth

17. Exploring the Moon

•         1950s to 1960s - probes

•         Neil Armstrong      First man on the Moon – July 20, 1969 

•         Six Apollo missions (1969-1972)

–       382 kg rocks      

•         12 Americans have walked on the moon