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A lunar phase or Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon 's directly sunlit portion as viewed from the Earth (because the Moon is tidally locked with the Earth, the same hemisphere is always facing the Earth). In common usage, the four major phases are the new moon, the first quarter, the full moon and the last quarter; the four minor ...
Every 18.6 years, the angle between the Moon's orbit and Earth's equator reaches a maximum of 28°36′, the sum of Earth's equatorial tilt (23°27′) and the Moon's orbital inclination (5°09′) to the ecliptic. This is called major lunar standstill. Around this time, the Moon's declination will vary from −28°36′ to +28°36′.
The Moon is Earth 's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period (lunar day) at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always ...
September 17, 2024 at 10:44 AM. Tonight's full moon will again be a supermoon that will shine for three full days — and give way to a partial eclipse. The harvest moon is different from all ...
Geologic history. Cliffs in the lunar crust indicate the Moon shrank globally in the geologically recent past and is still shrinking today. The geological history of the Moon has been defined into six major epochs, called the lunar geologic timescale. Starting about 4.5 billion years ago, [16] the newly formed Moon was in a molten state and was ...
Internal structure of the Moon. Moon's internal structure. Olivine basalt collected by Apollo 15. Thermal state of the Moon at age 100 Ma. [1] Having a mean density of 3,346.4 kg/m 3, [2] the Moon is a differentiated body, being composed of a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and planetary core. This structure is believed to have resulted ...
The second is landing and roving on the Moon, as Chang'e 3 did in 2013 and Chang'e 4 did in 2019. The third is collecting lunar samples from the near-side and sending them to Earth, a task Chang'e 5 completed in 2020, and Chang'e 6 that completed in 2024. The fourth phase consists of development of a robotic research station near the Moon's ...
Selenography is the study of the surface and physical features of the Moon (also known as geography of the Moon, or selenodesy). [1] Like geography and areography, selenography is a subdiscipline within the field of planetary science. Historically, the principal concern of selenographists was the mapping and naming of the lunar terrane ...