Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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 at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth.
be re-implanted into the regolith as a result of the Moon's gravity; escape the Moon entirely if the particle is moving at or above the lunar escape velocity of 2.38 km/s (1.48 mi/s), or 5,328 mph (8,575 km/h); be lost to space either by solar radiation pressure or, if the gases are ionized, by being swept away in the solar wind's magnetic field.
The "harvest moon" (also known as the "barley moon" or "full corn moon") is the full moon nearest to the autumnal equinox (22 or 23 September), occurring anytime within two weeks before or after that date. [18] The "hunter's moon" is the full moon following it. The names are recorded from the early 18th century. [19]
Lunar nearside with major maria and craters labeled. Lunar maria (singular mare) are large, dark, regions of the Moon.They do not contain any water, but are believed to have been formed from molten rock from the Moon's mantle coming out onto the surface of the Moon.
The Moon's elongation is its angular distance east of the Sun at any time. At new moon, it is zero and the Moon is said to be in conjunction. At full moon, the elongation is 180° and it is said to be in opposition. In both cases, the Moon is in syzygy, that is, the Sun, Moon and Earth are nearly aligned.
In the 2019 film Ad Astra, the Moon base is situated in the Tycho crater. This is Roy's first stop on his journey to Mars. Crater Tycho figures prominently in the Matthew Looney and Maria Looney series of children's books set on the Moon, authored by Jerome Beatty.
The moon is the namesake of Europa, in Greek mythology the daughter of the Phoenician king of Tyre. Like all the Galilean satellites, Europa is named after a lover of Zeus, the Greek counterpart of Jupiter. Europa was courted by Zeus and became the queen of Crete. [33]
The Moon's heavily cratered far-side. The origin of the Moon is usually explained by a Mars-sized body striking the Earth, creating a debris ring that eventually collected into a single natural satellite, the Moon, but there are a number of variations on this giant-impact hypothesis, as well as alternative explanations, and research continues into how the Moon came to be formed.