Facts about the Moon

A very clear picture of the moon surface.

 Here are some facts that you may teach your students regarding the moon.

• The moon is not a planet, but a satellite of the Earth because it orbits around the Earth like a man made satellite would. 

• The moon is about 1/4 the size of the Earth. 

• The surface area of the moon is 14,658,000 square miles or 9.4 billion acres.
  
  
• Only 59% of the moon's surface is visible from earth. This is because the moon is also rotating on its own axis.
  
  
• The moon rotates at 10 miles per hour compared to the earth's rotation of 1000 miles per hour.
  
  
• When a month has two full moons, the second full moon is called a blue moon. Another definition of a blue moon is the third full moon in any season (quarter of year) containing 4 total full moons.
  
  
• From Earth, we always see the same side of the moon; the other side is always hidden.
  
  
• The dark spots we see on the moon that create the image of the man in the moon are actually craters filled with basalt, which is a very dense material.
  
  
• The moon is the only extraterrestrial body that has ever been visited by humans. It is also the only body that has had samples taken from it.
  
  
• The first space craft to send back pictures from the moon was Luna 3 (built by the Soviet Union) in October 1959.
  
  
• The moon has no global magnetic field.