THE MOON

• Our Solar System is

located about 2/3

from the center of

our galaxy.

•The Sun is one of

over 100 billion stars

in the Milky Way.

OUR PLACE IN THE MILKY WAY

OVERVIEW OF THE SOLAR SYSTEM

The Solar System consists of

• The Sun - the central star of the system

• Eight planets, circling around the Sun

• Moons

• Asteroids

• Meteorites

• Comets

WHAT IS THE MOON?

• The Moon is the only ‘natural satellite’ of the planet Earth.

• The Moon orbits around the planet Earth.

• The Moon stays in its orbit due to the gravitational pull of the Earth.

• We see the moon because it reflects the Sun’s light

MOON FACTS • Mount Huygens is the tallest

mountain on the Moon, it is 4700 meters tall, just over half the height of Mt Everest (8848m).

• The Moon rotates on its axis in around the same length of time it takes to orbit the Earth. This means that from Earth we only ever see around 60% of its surface (50% at any one time).

• The side that we can see from Earth is called the near side while the other side is called the far side (it is sometimes called the dark side despite the fact that it illuminated by the Sun just as much as the near side).

Earth

7930 miles (12,756.3 km) diameter

23 degree axis tilt (seasons!)

Surface temps –73 to 48 C (-100 to 120F)

Thick atmosphere, mild greenhouse effect

Liquid water – lots! - at surface

2160 miles (3476 km) diameter

7 degree tilt (~no seasons)

Surface temps - 107 C to –153 C (224 F to –243 F)

No atmosphere

No liquid water … Ice at poles in shadows?

Moon

Earth

Active wind/water erosion

Impacts

Active volcanoes

Earthquakes

Active magnetic field

Few craters

Geologically Active!

Moon

NO Active wind/water erosion

Impacts

NO active volcanoes

Small moonquakes

NO active magnetic field

Buckets of craters

Geologically Inactive!

Earth

Moon

HOT! Not so hot!

Why so different?

Earth

Plate tectonics!

Moon

NO plate tectonics

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

BIRTH OF THE MOON

• “Born” 4-5 billion years ago

• Formed from impact of Mars-sized planet on Earth

• Debris from both objects melted together to form the Moon

CUT TO THE CORE

Three main layers of the Lunar interior

• Crust - average thickness of about 70km

• Mantle

• Core - radius about 400 km

THE MOON’S SURFACE

• No atmosphere

• No liquid water

• Extreme temperatures • Daytime = 130C

(265°F)

• Nighttime = -190C (-310 F)

• 1/6 Earth’s gravity

LUNAR FEATURES - HIGHLANDS

• Mountains up to 7500 m (25,000 ft) tall

• Rilles (trenchlike valleys)

LUNAR FEATURES - CRATERS

• Up to 2500 km (1,553 miles) across

• Most formed by meteorite impact on the Moon

• Some formed by volcanic action inside the Moon

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

Maria

Craters

Can you see the rays?

Does this photo show

us a limb or terminator

line?

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

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”

FULL

QUARTER

CRESCENT

GIBBOUS

FOUR MAIN SHAPES

EXPLORING THE MOON

• 1950s to 1960s - probes

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

• Six Apollo missions (1969-1972) • 382 kg (842 lbs)

rocks

• 12 Americans have walked on the moon

RETURN TO THE MOON!

• 2012 – Develop and test technologies for resource utilization, communications, power

• 2014 – CEV, Ares launch vehicle

• 2018 – Humans for week-long stays

• Next: 45-day stays at outposts

MOON BASE OF THE FUTURE?

• What would you need to live there?

RESOURCES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzRd4qzyS1c

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/article/all-about-moon

http://voices.yahoo.com/topic/8671/nasa.html?cat=15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hm1eL37gDGY

http://www.scientificpsychic.com/etc/moonmap/moon-map.html