facts about the moon for kids
⏩MOON is only natural satellite of Earth. (A natural satellite is a celestial body which orbits planets, Planets are larger body in space like Mars,Earth etc)
⏩The moon is not round (or spherical). Instead, it's shaped like an egg.
⏩The average distance between Earth and Moon is 3,84,400 km. (238857 miles)
⏩The moon has a radius of 1.731 km (1.079 miles)
⏩The moon rises in the east and sets in the west.
⏩Moon completes one revolution around earth relative to the stars in about 27.32 days (a sidereal month) and one revolution relative to the Sun in about 29.53 days (a synodic month).
⏩The moon moves toward the east in our sky by about 12 degrees each day.
⏩Moon is rank as the fifth largest moon in our solar system. (Ganymede is the largest moon in our solar system, and it orbits Jupiter)
⏩The moon does not possess light, but it reflects sunlight.
⏩Sunlight reflected by the moon takes 1.3 seconds to reach the moon.
⏩The rise and fall of the tides on earth are caused by the moon.
⏩Moon is also visible in daylight, but most of the time - it is hidden in sun brightness. It is only not in earth sky of daylight on a full moon and new moon day.
⏩There is no oxygen on the moon because its gravity is too weak to hold an atmosphere.
⏩Gravity on the moon is about 1/6 of gravity of earth. It means - if you are 18 kg on earth, then your weigh would around 3kg on the moon.
⏩The moon does spin on its axis, still we can't see another side of the moon. We can see only 60% of the moon.
⏩Mons Huygens is the tallest mountain on the moon about 5,500 m, and it is about half of Mount Everest.
⏩Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon's surface.
⏩Apollo 11 was the first manned mission to land on the moon.
⏩Buzz Aldrin was the first man to go to the toilet there(during moon mission landing on apollo 11), using a unique tube in his spacesuit.
⏩12 astronomers have walked on the moon since Apollo 11 in 1969.
⏩Zero women have walked on the moon, and at the time of Apollo (1969-72), there were no women in the U.S. astronaut corps.
(NASA announced plans for another man and first women to walk on Moon in 2024)
⏩The first spacecraft to reach the moon was Luna 1 in 1959 by USSR.
The moon is orbiting the earth around an elliptical orbit. It has a distance of about 3,84,400 km and, this distance may vary on every lunar month. So, the closest approach of the moon to earth is said to be a supermoon. A supermoon is bigger and brighter than a typical moon, and one can't observe a difference with his naked eye.
What is Origin of Moon ?
The Giant impactor theory has widely accepted, for the explanation of moon origin. According to this theory, when our solar system was young, a small planet called Theia has collided with earth. This collision was created debris around the earth. And eventually, this debris stuck together to form the moon.
The reason for the acceptance of the theory is because it can explain some facts like - why the moon has no iron core like earth, etc.
The Giant impactor theory has widely accepted, for the explanation of moon origin. According to this theory, when our solar system was young, a small planet called Theia has collided with earth. This collision was created debris around the earth. And eventually, this debris stuck together to form the moon.
The reason for the acceptance of the theory is because it can explain some facts like - why the moon has no iron core like earth, etc.
Why does moon shine ?
The moonshine because it reflects sunlight strikes on its surface. The moon surface has rocks and, so it easily reflects sunlight. Astronomers gave albedo as the name of reflected light from the sun, which can range between 0 to 1. The albedo of the moon is 0.3 to 0.12, which means 3% to 12% moons reflect sunlight. When the moon is opposite to the sun, it's looking bright, and when it is between earth and sun it does not appear.
And you know the earth also shine because the sunlight incident on it, is reflected by clouds, oceans, desert, ice, etc. the albedo earth is about 0.32. It may vary because when we have too many clouds in the sky, it reflects more. At a time, in space, we only see half earth shines.
Can moonlight harm us ?
No, moonlight does not harm us. When harm rays (ultraviolet rays) from the moon strikes on the skin, then the skin repairs the damage. Whenever moonlight cames on earth, it's filtered by the ozone layer and remaining, can be protected by skin shield. But, decades of continuous bathing in the moonlight may harm you.
