The Moon By Zachary Paikoff 1
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<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c9/Moon_nearside_LRO.jpg> INTRODUCTION Have you ever wondered about the moon? How does the moon form? A moon is a natural satellite that orbits another planet. It formed when the earth collided with an object. The moon is a very interesting sight in space. WHAT IS THE MOON? The moon is an object in space that orbits another planet. Did you know that the moon formed 4.5 billion years ago when the earth collided with an object about the size of mars? It formed when the material clumped into a big ball. The material that clumped into the ball soon cooled and shrank into the moon. This is called the giant impact theory. Scientists do not know for sure how this happened. The moon is made of rocks, minerals, and basalt. Basalt is hard dense volcanic rock. 2
The moon does not have any air, water, and nothing lives there. It takes about 708 hours for the moon to travel around the earth. This is called a lunar month. Moons are natural satellites that orbit other planets. Although the Earth has one moon, other planets have 7 moons. Astronauts can explore the moon using a Rover Robot. A Rover Robot explores anything in space. It was used when the men first landed on the moon. The robot helped the astronauts explore the moon’s surface and find their way around. PHASES OF THE MOON There are 8 phases of the moon. A phase is a stage of the moon as seen from earth. The moon circles the earth this is called orbiting. Phases a3 re caused when the moon reflects sunlight. The shape of the moon changes every night. It can be full,round,or curved. 2
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<http://session.masteringphysics.com/problemAsset/1011757/10/1011757A.jpg> <http://astropixels.com/moon/phases2/images/Phases10­13x­2w.jpg> The first phase is a new moon a new moon cannot be seen from earth. The second phase is called the waxing crescent. A crescent is shaped like a c. The third phase is called the first quarter. The right half of the moon shines during the phase.The 4th phase is the waxing gibbous. The sun lit half gets bigger. The 5th is the full moon. ( full moons are also called blue moons) . Blue moons are not blue at all. they are usually yellow or white. The 6th phase is the waning gibbous ‘The word waning means to get smaller. The left side of the moon is shaped like an oval. After several days the last quarter comes in. Some people call it the half moon. Then comes the waning crescent. The shape in this phase is a c. CRATERS The moon has millions of craters. Craters formed billions of years ago when asteroids and comets struck the moons surface. They left holes in the moon. The moons surface is gray . Earth lava contained water but the moons did not. Some parts of the 4moon look light while others look darker. Some of the moons mountains are more than 4 miles high. The moon reflects sunlight back to the earth . The craters were colered in different shades of gray. there is one crater on the moon that is 1,398 wide and 7 miles deep. It is named south pole aitken. That crater is located on the far side of the moon . Some craters are so large that they can form mountains. Most of the craters have been on the moon for more than 100 years. MARIAS What is a maria? A maria is a dark part of the moon. How did they form? When huge meteoroids c5rashed in the moon. Marias are actually dark areas of the moon. Maria is latin for sea. They are huge plains of the on the moon. Marias look like bodies of water on the moon. The lava in the marias spilled out and filled the craters with hot lava. They cooled and hardened into the dark rock. The marias make up more than 16% of of the moons surface. The rilles of the moon are so large that they can be seen from earth. Rilles are long channels of lava. They flowed across the moon's surface. Rilles can be 4
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<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Webb_crater.png> <http://www.education.com/static/science­fair/craters­maria­highlands­moon­surface/moon­maria.png> seen with a small telescope. CONCLUSION When you look up at the sky you can see the moon. It formed 4.5 billion years ago. The moon orbits around other planets. There are 8 phases of the moon. It has millions of craters. The dark parts of the moon are called marias. The moon is an exciting sight to learn about. Work Cited Eye On the Universe: The Moon (Nicki Walker) 1998 New York, NY ISBN 0­86505­679 Far­out Guide to the Moon (Mary Kay Carson) 2011 Berkely Heights, NJ ISBN 978­0­7660­3189­0 Our Moon (Joanne Mattern) 2011 Manakoto, Minneseota ISBN 978­1­4296­5394­7 Phases of the Moon (Suzanne Slade) 2007 New York, NY ISBN 1­4042­3488­8