Components of the Solar System II

Topic Content:

The Moon:

A moon is an object that orbits a planet. Objects that orbit other objects are also called satellites, so moons are sometimes called natural satellites. The Moon is 3,474.8 km in diameter and its distance from Earth is 384,400 km.

There is no water or air on the Moon, therefore, the moon’s surface is dry. The Moon’s surface experiences a wide range of temperatures, during the day it is about 120°C and at night it is about -180°C.

The moon is the largest and brightest object we see in the sky from Earth at night. The Earth only has one moon. It does not generate light on its own, rather it reflects the light from the sun. Therefore, only the part of the moon that faces the sun shines (the entire moon cannot shine at once). Even when we think we see a full moon, this is not true, the moon appears in phases. A Moon phase is the apparent shape of the Moon as viewed from the Earth when it is hit directly by sunlight. The four primary phases of the Moon on Earth are the new moon, first quarter, full