MO - Moon OVERVIEW

Moon

Introduction

  As astronauts, knowing how the Moon affects Earth is essential in completing your training. From eclipses to ocean tides and from ancient folk tales to lunar calendars, astronomers are constantly looking to the Moon.

Essential Questions

  • What are the characteristics of the Moon?
  • How does the position of the Earth and Sun affect the Moon?
  • How does the Moon affect the tides on Earth?

Key Terms

Crater - a bowl-shaped cavity in the ground or on the surface of a planet or the Moon caused by the impact of a meteorite

Crescent Moon - a phase of the Moon when less than half the visible portion is illuminated

Full Moon - a phase of the Moon when the entire visible portion is illuminated

Gibbous Moon - a phase of the Moon when over half the visible portion is illuminated

Highlands - light colored areas of the moon that are covered by larger number of craters. They’re considered to be oldest feature and original surface crust of the moon

Lunar Eclipse - when the Moon appears darkened because it passes into the shadow of the Earth

Maria - large, smooth, dark areas caused by the flow of molten core onto the surface of the moon.  Means “Seas in Latin’.

Neap Tide - a less than average tide occurring at the first and third quarter of the Moon's phases

New Moon - a phase of the Moon when there is no visible illuminated surface

Quarter Moon - a phase of the Moon when exactly half the visible surface is illuminated

Ray - splatters of small glasslike spheres caused by objects impacting the moon’s surface. Rays radiate away from some craters

Regolith - rock chunks and fine powder created by repeated collisions of the moon with other objects. They blanket the moon’s surface and are tens of meters in depth

Solar Eclipse - when the Moon blocks the Sun

Spring Tide - an above average tide that occurs when the Moon is new or full

Synchronous Rotation - when the period of rotation around a planet is equal to the object's rotation around its own axis

Tide - the alternate rising and falling of the sea twice approximately every 23 hours

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