Moon

Question 1

Is there water on the moon

Answer 1

Yes, as ice. Highest concentration in the darkened craters at the poles. (NASA)

Question 2

Compare to the size of Earth

Answer 2

Moon radius is 1,080 miles (1,740 kilometers), less than a third of the width of Earth. If Earth were the size of a nickel, the Moon would be as big as a coffee bean. (NASA)

Question 3

How far away is the moon

Answer 3

238,855 miles (384,400 kilometers (NASA)

Question 4

Is the distance between the Earth and Moon stable

Answer 4

The Moon is slowly moving away from Earth, getting about an inch farther away each year (NASA)

Question 5

How long is the moon’s orbit

Answer 5

complete orbit around Earth in 27 Earth days … Because Earth is moving as well – rotating on its axis as it orbits the Sun – from our perspective, the Moon appears to orbit us every 29 days. (NASA)

Question 6

What is the dark side of the moon

Answer 6

The Moon is rotating at the same rate that it revolves around Earth (called synchronous rotation), so the same hemisphere faces Earth all the time. Some people call the far side – the hemisphere we never see from Earth – the “dark side” (NASA)

Question 7

How did the moon form

Answer 7

The Moon likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth several billion years ago. (NASA)

Question 8

What is the moon made of

Answer 8

Our Moon has a core, mantle, and crust.

1. core: smaller than other terrestrial bodies’ cores. The solid, iron-rich inner core is 149 miles (240 kilometers) in radius.
2. liquid iron shell 56 miles (90 kilometers) thick.
3. A partially molten layer with a thickness of 93 miles (150 kilometers) surrounds the iron core.
4. The crust has a thickness of about 43 miles (70 kilometers) on the Moon’s near-side hemisphere and 93 miles (150 kilometers) on the far-side. (NASA)

Question 9

What are the light and dark areas on the moon

Answer 9

Light = Highlands. Dark features= maria (Latin for seas), are impact basins that were filled with lava between 4.2 and 1.2 billion years ago. These light and dark areas represent rocks of different compositions and ages (evidence for how the early crust may have crystallized from a lunar magma ocean). The craters, which have been preserved for billions of years, provide an impact history for the Moon (and other nearby bodies). (NASA)

Question 10

What is the gravity on the moon

Answer 10

1/6 of Earth’s (NASA)

Question 11

What is the temperature on the moon

Answer 11

300 degrees F during the 2-week daytime
-270 degrees F during the 2-week night