EARTH'S MOON
While a number of the planets in our solar system have moons, we know the most
about the Earth's moon because human's have been to the moon. Read some of these
moon facts. Go to the GLOSSARY if you are not sure of the meaning of some of the
words.
Click on the underlined words to go to the Glossary.
The moon is a
satellite of the Earth and
orbits around it.
- The
Earth has only one moon.
The moon is the only object
in space that man has ever visited. One reason is that the Moon is much closer
to Earth than the other planets (on average about 240,000 miles).
The moon has a
diameter of about 3,476 kilometers.
The moon takes 27.3 days to
make one orbit around the Earth. It
also takes the Moon 27.3 days to complete one
rotation on its axis.
The moon's surface has many
craters on it. These were formed by
meteor crashes a long time ago.
The moon causes many of the
tides in the Earth's oceans. This is
because of the gravity force between
the Earth and Moon.
The moon can be seen clearly
with your eyes, binoculars, or a telescope.
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