1.
The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite and the fifth largest moon in the solar system.
2.
The Moon’s presence helps stabilize our planet’s wobble and moderate our climate.
3.
The Moon’s distance from Earth is about 240,000 miles (385,000km).
4.
The Moon has a very thin atmosphere called an exosphere.
5.
The Moon’s surface is cratered and pitted from comet and asteroid impacts.
6.
The Moon is a bit more than one-fourth (27%) the size of Earth, a much larger ratio (1:4) than any other moons to their planets.
7.
The Moon’s gravity pulls at the Earth, causing predictable rises and falls in sea levels known as tides. To a much smaller extent, tides also occur in lakes, the atmosphere and within Earth’s crust.
8.
From Earth, both the Sun and the Moon look about same size. This is because, the Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but also 400 times closer to Earth.
9.
They’re not called earthquakes but moonquakes. They are caused by the gravitational influence of the Earth. Unlike quakes on Earth that last only a few minutes at most, moonquakes can last up to half an hour. They are much weaker than earthquakes though.
10.
It takes 27.3 days for the Moon to travel all the way around the Earth and complete its orbit.
11.
Although the Moon shines bright in the night sky, it doesn’t produce its own light. We see the Moon because it reflects light from the Sun.
12.
The temperature on the Moon varies from super hot to super cold! When the Sun hits its surface, temperatures can reach a scorching 127°C. But when the Sun “goes down”, temperatures can plummet to around –153°C.
13.
It is thought that the Moon was formed after a large object or series of objects slammed into Earth, with some of the material exploding into space and creating our lunar neighbor. After Apollo astronauts brought back lunar rocks for analysis, scientists studied ancient zircon fragments and were able to determine that this took place approximately 4.5 billion years ago.
14.
In reality both sides of the Moon see the same amount of sunlight however only one face of the Moon is ever seen from Earth. This is because the Moon rotates around on its own axis in exactly the same time it takes to orbit the Earth, meaning the same side is always facing the Earth. The side facing away from Earth has only been seen by the human eye from spacecraft.
15.
The Moon is moving approximately 3.8 cm away from our planet every year. It is estimated that it will continue to do so for around 50 billion years. By the time that happens, the Moon will be taking around 47 days to orbit the Earth instead of the current 27.3 days.
16.
The Moon has much weaker gravity than Earth, due to its smaller mass, so you would weigh about one sixth (16.5%) of your weight on Earth. This is why the lunar astronauts could leap and bound so high in the air.
17.
The Moon is not round. It’s actually shaped more like an egg.
18.
The tallest mountain on the Moon is Mons Huygens, at 18,046 ft (that’s about half the height of Mt. Everest).
19.
Because there is no wind on the Moon, footprints on the lunar surface are still intact and in pristine condition.
20.
A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth, casting the moon’s shadow onto Earth.
