It’s national moon day on Thursday 20th July… so here are some interesting facts:
The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite.
It takes 27.3 days for the Moon to travel all the way around the Earth.
The Moon is a lot smaller than the Sun.
The Moon was made when a rock smashed into Earth.
Yes, the Moon controls the tides.
There is water on the Moon!
So, is the moon a Planet??
No…..
Lunar scientist Barbara Cohen explains how our moon functions very much like a planet.
“You’ve all probably heard about the International Astronomical Union (IAU) decision to define a planet — probably because it clarified that there is a big belt of icy objects out beyond the orbit of Neptune, and we now know that Pluto is one of thousands of them. The IAU definition also excludes moons from being planets. But did you know our moon functions like a planet? It has a lot to teach us about how planets form and evolve.”
Like the Earth, our moon has a crust, a mantle and a core. These interior layers we think are present on most planets, even if the crust is made of rock or ice. Mars probably has a crust, mantle, and core, and so do Venus and Mercury. The rocks we brought back from the moon from the Apollo missions helped us learn that this process of forming internal layers, or differentiation, is a common process on all planets. So when the moon formed, it formed like a planet.”
- Sources: https://www.funkidslive.com/learn/top-10-facts/top-10-facts-about-the-moon/ ; https://blogs.nasa.gov/Watch_the_Skies/2009/07/10/post_1247240047519/ : https://earthhow.com/moon-facts/
