Page 1 - 11.1 THE MOON INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER 11: THE MOON
TOPIC: INTRODUCTION TO THE MOON, SURFACE AND CONDITION

The Moon

 The Moon is an astronomical body orbiting Earth and is the planet's only natural
satellite.
 The gravitational attraction between the earth and the natural satellite holds it in its
orbit even as the moon revolves around the earth.
 It is the fifth-largest satellite in the Solar System, and by far the largest among
planetary satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits.
 The Moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago, not long after
Earth.
 The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, and thus always shows the same
side to Earth, the near side. Because of liberation, slightly more than half (about
59%) of the total lunar surface can be viewed from Earth.
 After the Sun, the Moon is the second-brightest celestial object regularly visible in
Earth's sky.
 Its surface is actually dark, although compared to the night sky it appears very bright,
with a reflections of suns light.

SURFACE ON THE MOON
 The moon’s surface is covered by rocks and grey powdery loose dirt which we call
lunar soil .
 It is pock marked with craters of different sizes because of meteorites that hits it
surface.