Photo taken near the landing site of Apollo 17

Crescent Moon

Quarter Moon

GibbousMoon

Full Moon

The moon’s diameter is about ¼ or 25% of the earth’s.

So, if the earth is about 13,000 km in diameter, the moon is about 3,250 km

The moon is about 384,000 km from the earth.

So, you could say that the moon is about 30 “earths” away from earth.

The BARYCENTER of the earth-moon system is much closer to the earth

than the moon.

The BARYCENTER is theCENTER OF GRAVITY between the

Earth and the Moon.

Galileo Galilee

1609

Galileo Galilee

1609

maria

terrae

(dark because

of volcanic activity)

Craters on the Moon are caused by falling comets and asteroids.

The diameter of the crater is usually 5 to 10 times the diameter of the

impacting body.

The RAYS that surround some craters are probably caused by the lighter

color of the material ejected during an impact.

RILLES are formations that can either be straight or winding.

The rilles were probably caused by volcanic activity.

Is there any volcanic activity (volcanism) on the moon today?

Probably not.

lunar basalt

anorthosite

breccia

tektites

How does the moon cause tides?

HIGH TIDE LOW TIDE

The Moon has much less

atmosphere than Earth

because, due to the moon’s weak gravity, gases escape as quickly as

they’re caught.

Four partsOf the Moon’sInterior:

1)Core2)Partially

MoltenRegion

3) Lithosphere4) Crust

The FISSION theory of moon origin:

The moon was once part of the earth, but it broke away because the earth

once rotated very rapidly.

The ACCRETION theory of moon origin:

The moon formed in orbit around the earth, but not out of material drawn

from the earth.

The CAPTURE theory of moon origin:

The moon formed elsewhere in the solar system and was captured by the

earth during a close encounter.

The GIANT IMPACT theory ofmoon origin

The theory that is now the most widely accepted

The GIANT IMPACT theory ofmoon origin:

The GIANT IMPACT theory ofmoon origin:The GIANT IMPACT Theory states that,

when the young earth was forming, an extremely massive object struck the Earth, shooting debris into space. Some of this debris collected to form the Moon.