Term
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Definition
| The natural satelite of a planet - a body of mass orbiting its planet. |
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Term
| Does the Earth's Moon have an atmosphere? |
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Definition
No. It may have had one at some point but its gravity was too weak to keep hold of it. |
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Term
| What is the Moon's diameter? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the average distance of the Earth from the Moon? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the Moons orbit around the Earth? |
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Definition
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Term
| How much of the Moon's surface is classed as Mare (Sea)? |
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Definition
| Approximately 17% of the lunar surface. |
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Term
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Definition
The collective name for highlands – bright areas that are higher on the Moon’s surface than maria. |
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Term
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Definition
1. Object impacts on the moon
2. This creates a crater
3. Lava flows into the crater
4. Lava cools to form flat maria |
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Term
What is the Sea of Tranquility best known for? |
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Definition
For being the landing site of the first manned landing, Apollo 11. |
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Term
| What is the moons Rotational Period? |
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Definition
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Term
| What is the moons Orbital Period? |
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Definition
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Term
| What does the term Synchronous (captured) Rotation mean? |
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Definition
| The moon keeps the same side / face towards the body it orbits. This means that from Earth, only one side / face can be seen. |
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Term
| When did Astronomers find out what the far side of the moon looked like? |
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Definition
| We did not know what the far side looked like until the Soviet Luna 3 Probe took pictures of it in 1959. |
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Term
| What percentage of the Earths Gravity is that of the moon? |
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Definition
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Term
| Who were the first to land on the moon? |
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Definition
| Apollo 11 was the first to land on the moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to explore the surface while Michael Colling orbited above them in a command module. |
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Term
| Describe the Condensation / Co-Formation Theory of the formation of the Moon. |
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Definition
EXPLANATION: Gravity would have caused the material in the early solar system to draw together at the same time as gravity bound particles together to form Earth.
PROOF: The Moon is in the same place as the Earth.
DISPROOF: The Moon is much less dense than the Earth. |
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Term
| Describe the Capture Hypothesis of the formation of the Moon. |
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Definition
EXPLANATION: A rock formed somewhere else in the Solar System which was drawn into orbit around the Earth.
PROOF: This theory would explain the differences in the composition of the moon.
DISPROOF: The orbits don't line up with the parent planet. |
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Term
| Describe the Fission Hypothesis of the formation of the Moon. |
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Definition
EXPLANATION: It came from George Darwin (son of Charles Darwin), he said that the moon must have brocken away from our planet when the Earth was still a ball of molten rock.
PROOF: This accounts for the low density of iron in the moon.
DISPROOF: This process requires 4 times the observed angular momentum of the current Earth Moon system. |
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Term
| Describe the Giant Impact Hypothesis of the formation of the Moon. |
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Definition
EXPLANATION: The moon formed of material blasted into space when a planet sized body slammed into the newly formed Earth 4.4 billion years ago, known as Theia, the Mars sized body collided with the Earth to form the moon.
PROOF: This is the most accepted hypothesis. |
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Term
| How long does light take from the Earth to reach the Moon? |
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Definition
| About a second and a half. |
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Term
| Why is the Moon responsible for tides on the Earth? |
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Definition
| Because the Moon has a gravitational pull on the Earth. |
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