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Space. The Earth/Moon System The Solar System The Sun and the Stars Everything Else Black Holes Galaxies Other weird and cool things in the Universe. The Moon/Earth System. What is the Moon? How did it get there?. Moon Formation Theories.
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Space • The Earth/Moon System • The Solar System • The Sun and the Stars • Everything Else Black Holes Galaxies Other weird and cool things in the Universe
The Moon/Earth System • What is the Moon? • How did it get there?
Moon Formation Theories • Fission. The Earth threw off a chunk of itself, leaving the Pacific basin. • Moon would orbit along our equator, it doesn’t. • Capture. The Earth’s gravity captured the moon. • Earth would need an extended atmosphere to dissipate energy, unlikely. • Co-Formation. They formed at the same time, from the same stuff. • Unlikely due to the amount of energy in the system (the moon escaping at a rate of one foot per year). • Giant Impact. Two planetoids impacted to form the Earth and moon. • This is the theory that most scientists believe was the most probable.
Check this out! • How do we know this? by studying its composition, size and orbit.
The Moon’s surface is made of two kinds of rock Mare, or dark colored Basaltic rock Terrae, or light colored rock called Anorthosite
What is the interior the Moon made of? The same material as the Earth’s mantle. Basalt
How does the Moon orbit the Earth? In a “synchronous” orbit
What we’ve learned already • The moon was formed when a planetoid named Thea collided with the proto-Earth • The Moon is made similar rocks as Earth • Terrae is the light colored rock, similar to Earth’s crust • Mare is the dark colored basaltic rock, the same as the Earth’s mantle • The flour like dust on the moon’s surface is called Regolith, and is created by microscopic impacts • The Moon has an iron core, but it’s very small and doesn’t create a magnetic field like Earth’s core does
This movie shows the Moon going through one month’s worth of phases The wobble is called Libration, and is caused by variations in the moon’s orbit
Solar Eclipse from orbit • Umbra • Penumbra