Moon Madness

1. The moon was a Waxing Crescent (see board for sketch).

2. The moon will be a 1st Quarter moon on February 25th. See board for sketch.

3. March 5th will be a full moon and then March 13th will be a last quarter moon. Therefore, in two weeks the moon will be in a waning gibbous phase.

4. The moon appears to glow/shine because one side of the moon is facing the Sun. That side of the moon is reflecting the light from the Sun. The reflection of light from a surface is called ALBEDO.

5. It takes 29.5 Days (about one month) for the moon to orbit the Earth.

6. The moon only makes one rotation for every revolution. Therefore, a moon day is also 29.5 days.

7. Depending on the phase of the moon it might be visible in the sky during the day. This usually occurs during the waxing phases. From the full moon and into the waning phases it is visible during the night hours. (Remember, our moon revolves around the Earth.)

8. The moon has a force making it move forward and then Earth’s gravity is a force pulling on the moon. The moon has enough forward force that keeps it from falling and crashing into Earth.

9. The crust of the moon is made mostly of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron, calcium, and aluminum (similar to Earth without the water and atmospheric gases). Surface is called regolith (rego=blanket lith=rock), or dust/dirt/and soil from rocky surface breakdown.

Scientists can only hypothesize about what the core of the moon is like. They think it has iron, and some sulfur/nickel.

9. (continued) The moon is not made of cheese. It is covered with extinct volcanoes, impact craters, and lava flows which look like Swiss cheese holes.

The dark, iron rich, plains of the moon are called mare. The higher in altitude, more reflective areas are called highlands. The trench-like areas of lava flow (from extinct volcanoes) are known as rills.

10. The moon’s orbit is elliptical, not circular. At its closest point, known as the perigee the moon is 363,104 km (225,622 miles). At the farthest point, called apogee, the moon is at a distance of 406,696 km (252,088 miles).

11. Size: The moon is approximately 27% the size of Earth based on the diameter.

Volume: The volume is only 2% compared to the volume of Earth.

Mass: You would need 81 objects with the mass of the moon to match the mass of the Earth.

12. Yes, from 1969 to 1972 there were 6 manned Apollo landings on the moon. 18 men traveled and 12 men walked on the moon. Two men would walk on the moon and one would stay on the Apollo spacecraft.

13. A blue moon is the second full moon occurring in a month. The next one will be in July. July 1st is a full moon and July 31st is a full moon.