The Moon

By Adrian

Introduction

The Moon is Earth’s only natural light in the time of night also having the important role of giving life to us. It has a diameter of 3474 km which is approximately ¼ of Earth’s. The Moon’s surface is full of highlands, craters e.c.t. Also containing minerals and a powdery,

hard surface. Its temperature varies depending on which time of the day it is, if it is night- time the average temperature is -170 degrees

Celsius and during the day- time the average temperature is 130 degrees Celsius. The Moon’s distance from Earth is averagely 416880 km

depending on the stage of the orbit.

Theories of creationThere are many theories of the Moon’s creation and how it

was formed. It is believed it was formed 4.5 billion years ago when Earth collided with a massive object the size of Mars or larger which caused Earth to eject materials and parts of itself. Eventually, over time the materials formed

the Moon.

Another theory is that when the Solar-System was just recently created and very young the Earth was spinning 10 times as fast it is now. It reached a speed of 16000

km/h which caused a ”lump” to form and eventually come off in order to stabilize it self. This “lump” became the

Moon.

structure

The Moon’s structure and base materials is still a mystery to Earth, although we do know very little of

the topic. It is known that the Moon has a very small, metallic core

approximately 15 times smaller than Earth’s. It’s surface is made up from

mostly a mixture of dark-grey minerals such as grit and rock. The Moon’s surface is also made up of

maria (flat, low areas with dark lava inside the area formed billions of

years ago) and a powdery blanker of regolith which is a charcoal-grey

type of soil

The Moon’s orbit of Earth

The Moon has a slightly tilted orbit around the Earth traveling at the incredible speed of 3683 km per hour, at this speed it would take 648 hours which is 27 days to complete a full orbit of the Earth. It is know that the Moon’s

orbit around Earth was created when the Solar-System was very young and just

recently formed. The Moon travels a distance of 384400 km to complete an orbit of the

Earth, also in it’s orbit of the Earth, the Moon rotates in an anti-clockwise direction. The Moon’s orbit of the Earth consists of the

following 8 stages:

The other Moons of the Solar System

Planet Moons Moon NamesMercury 0 none

Venus 0 none

Earth 1 Moon

Mars 2 Phobos, Deimos

Jupiter 62 Lo, Europa, Ganymede, Callisto, Amalthea, Himela, Elera, Pasiphae, Sinope, Lysithea, Carme, Anake, Leda, Metis, Adrastea, Thebe, Callirhoe, Themisto, Kalyke, Locaste, Erinome, Harpalyke, Isonoe, Praxidike, Megaclite, Taygete, Chaldene, Autonoe, Thyone, Hermippe, Eurydome, Sponde, Pasithee, Euanthe, Kale, Orthosie, Euporie, Aitne, plus others yet to receive names.

Saturn 33 Titan, Rhea, Lapetus, Dione, Tethys, Enceladus, Mimas, Hyperion, Prometheus, Pandora, Phoebe, Janus, Epimetheus, Helene, Telesto, Calypso, Atlas, Pan, Ymir, Paaliaq, Siarnaq, Tarvos, Kiviuq, Ijiraq, thrym, Sdadi, Mundilfari, Erriapo, Albiorix, Suttung, plus others yet to receive names.

Uranus 27 Cordelia, Ophelia, Bianca, Cressida, Desdemona, Juliet,Portia, Rasalind, Belinda, Puck, Miranda, Ariel, Unbriel,Titania, Oberon. Caliban, Sycorax, Prospero, Setebos, Stephano, Trinculo, plus others yet to receive names.

Neptune 13 Triton, Nereid, Naiad, Thalassa, Despina, Galatea, Larissa, Proteus, plus others yet to receive names.

Pluto 1 Charon

TOTAL 139

Conclusion

Many people have many different opinions, beliefs and thoughts about the Moon.

But what are yours?

Bibliography

General knowledge

www.google.com

Information from school books

www.wikianswers.com