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Every human language has its own word for the Earth's Moon, and these words are the ones normally used in astronomical contexts.However, a number of fanciful or mythological names for the Moon have been used in the context of astronomy (an even larger number of lunar epithets have been used in non-astronomical contexts).
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.
Earth's Moon, named "Luna" in Latin, Spanish and other languages; Luna (goddess), the ancient Roman personification of the Moon; Luna (name), including a list of people and characters with this given name and surname; Luna marble, the ancient Roman term for Carrara marble; Luna may also refer to:
The Earth's only natural satellite, the Moon is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun. ... comes from the Latin root of luna, which means moon.
Earth's natural satellite is simply known as the Moon, or the equivalent in the language being spoken (for instance, two astronomers speaking French would call it la Lune). English-language science fiction often adopts the Latin name "Luna" while using the English "Moon" as a term for natural satellites in general in order to better distinguish ...
The adjectival forms of the names of astronomical bodies are not always easily predictable. Attested adjectival forms of the larger bodies are listed below, along with the two small Martian moons; in some cases they are accompanied by their demonymic equivalents, which denote hypothetical inhabitants of these bodies.
The near side of the Moon, with major maria and craters labeled. The lunar maria (/ ˈ m ær i. ə / MARR-ee-ə; sg. mare / ˈ m ɑːr eɪ,-i / MAR-ay, MAR-ee) [1] are large, dark, basaltic plains on Earth's Moon, formed by lava flowing into ancient impact basins. They were dubbed maria (Latin for 'seas') by early astronomers who mistook them ...
The distance from the Moon to the apex of its umbra is roughly equal to that between the Moon and Earth: 384,402 km (238,856 mi). Since Earth's diameter is 3.7 times the Moon's, its umbra extends correspondingly farther: roughly 1.4 million km (870,000 mi). [1]