The Moon

1. The Moon • The moon is Earth’s closest neighbor- 384,000 miles away • If you traveled 100km/hr, it would take you 5 months to get there • Rotates on its own axis • Revolves around the Earth

2. The moon cont... • It takes the moon 27.3 days to rotate on its axis • It also takes the moon 27.3 days to revolve around the Earth • What does this mean??? • One Day on the Moon is the same amount of time as one year on the moon!!!

3. The Moon... • Only one side of the moon always faces the Earth • This is the Near side of the moon • The other side of the moon always faces away from the Earth • This is the far side of the moon

4. The Phases of the Moon • How does the moon change shape every month? • The position of the Earth, moon, and sun cause the phases of the moon • Moon Phases Simulation

5. Phases of the Moon • Terms to Know: • Waxing- means “to grow” • Is used when the moon goes from new moon to full moon • Waning- term used when the moon is getting smaller • Is used from full moon to new moon

6. Terms To Know: • Gibbous- “humpbacked” used to describe the moon when it is almost full • between a full moon and a half moon, or between a half moon and a full moon • Crescent- between a half moon and a new moon, or between a new moon and a half moon Looks like a letter “C”

7. Eclipse • An eclipse occurs when the moon's shadow hits Earth or Earth's shadow hits the moon • Happens because of the moon's orbit (is tilted with respect to the Earth's orbit • Usually, the moon does not go directly between the Earth and the sun

9. Solar Eclipse • Happens when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, blocking the sunlight from reaching Earth • Basically, the moon's shadow hits the Earth, which blocks out all the sun

12. Lunar Eclipse • Happens during a full moon when Earth is directly between the moon and the sun • Earth's shadow blocks sunlight from reaching the moon • Only occur during a full moon because this is when the moon is closest to Earth's shadow

13. Eclipses

15. Check out this website! • This is sooooo cool! http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/lunar.html

16. What do tides have to do with astronomy? • What is a tide? • The rise and fall of water • Water rises for approx. 6hrs then falls for 6 hrs • Repeats this cycle daily

17. The Tides • What causes the tides? • The force of gravity pulls the moon and Earth (including all the water) toward each other • Tides happen because of differences in how much the moon pulls on different parts of Earth • Moon's gravity pulls water toward the point on Earth's surface closest to the moon

18. High Tides • The force of gravity is stronger where the moon is closer to the Earth (This causes high tides) • The force of gravity is weaker where the moon is furthest away from the Earth ( • This causes the Earth as a whole to be pulled toward the moon. • Water is left behind, causes another high tide

19. Low Tides • Occur between the closest and furthest points from the moon • Water flows away from these points, causing low tides

20. What about the sun's gravity? • The sun also has an effect on our tides • New moon and full moon: sun, Earth, and moon are in a line • Gravity of sun and moon pull in one direction • Combined forces produce the biggest difference between low and high tide • This is called a spring tide

21. cont... • 1st quarter and 3rd quarter moon: • Line between earth and the sun is at a right angle • Sun's gravity is pulling in a different direction than the moon's gravity. • Produces a tide with the least difference between high and low tide • This is called a Neap Tide

22. http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/TideAni.gifhttp://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moontides/TideAni.gif

24. http://www.moonconnection.com/moon-december-2009.phtml http://www.moonconnection.com/moon-december-2009.phtml