THE MOONPhases and Information

Moon phases

There are 8 moon phases

http://astro.unl.edu/classaction/animations/lunarcycles/lunarapplet.html

How many days?

Each moon phase last about 3.3 days

New moon to New moon

The full cycle from New moon to New moon takes 29.5 days

Happy Birthday!

Age of the Moon4.5 billion years old

Moon Rotation

The same side of the Moon always faces the Earth. The Moon's rotation period is synchronous with its revolution period around the Earth.

Change of Distance

Because of a loss of orbital energy to gravity from the Earth, the Moon is very gradually moving away from the Earth.

Lunar Atmosphere

The Moon has almost no atmosphere, because of its weak gravity. All types of gas will escape from its surface.

Moon temperature

The surface temperature fluctuates from roughly +300° F to -270 F!

Blue Moon

When two full moons occur in a single month, the second full moon is called a "Blue Moon."

A Moon by any other name…

CalledLuna by the Romans, Selene and Artemis by the Greeks, and many other names in other mythologies.

You wobble too?

the Moon appears to wobble a bit so that a few degrees of the far side can be seen.

USSR

The moon was first visited by the U.S.S.R.'s Luna 1 and Luna 2 in 1959, and a number of U.S. and U.S.S.R. robotic spacecraft followed.

Shine On!

The Moon reflects the light of the Sun.

Moon axis

The Moon does spin on its axis, completing a rotation once every 27.3 days. It also takes the same period to orbit the Earth, the same side faces us.

Two-faced

The Moon has no side that is constantly dark; the front and back are alternately lit as the Moon rotates. Far side is a more accurate term.