Earth’s Movement &
The Moon
“One small step for man, one
giant leap for mankind.”
A. How Earth Moves
1.
Rotation
-Earth turning on its axis
(once every 24 hrs.)
2.
Revolution
-earth moving around the
sun (once every year.)
a. earth’s path is called an
orbit.
B. Seasons
Draw the diagram
below:
Equinox
Solstice
Solstice
Equinox
C. Gravity
1.
Gravity
-
Force that attracts
all objects toward
each other
a. Mass
-
More mass =
stronger force
-
Increase the
distance between
objects = weaker
force
b. Distance
2. Phases of the Moon- phase is the shape
of the moon by the light
a.
b.
c.
d.
New moon- completely dark
Full moon- fully lit
Waxing- getting
fuller/lighter (follows new
moon)
Waning- getting darker
(follows full moon)
Gibbous
Quarter
Crescent
Lunar Exploration

Distance
The moon is 386,000 km
from earth.
 For over 300 years the
only way to study the
moon was how??
___________.






Pioneer
Ranger
Surveyor
Mercury and Gemini
Apollo
The Moon and Its Properties
Diameter
 Density
 Mass
 Gravity

3476km
 3.3g/cm3 < Earth
 1/8 that of the Earth
 1/6 of the earth. Means
it is easier to launch a
spacecraft.

Structure of the Moon

Seismometers
Show moonquakes.
Very few and very weak
 Helped scientists to
develop a model of the
moons interior.


Moon’s
Movements
The moon turns once on
its axis in the same time
period it orbits once
around the Earth.
 So the same side of the
moon always faces the
Earth.
 We only see the front
side of the moon


Appearance

Light and Dark areas.

Light areas

Are lunar Highlands.

Dark areas


Great Basins and flat
plains named Maria.
latin word for sea.
Galileo thought they
were filled with water.

Shape
Moon is not a perfect
sphere.
 Slightly egg shaped.

Earth

The smaller end of the
moon is pointed towards
the Earth.

Origin and
History of the
moon

Formed 4.6 Billion
years ago from a
collision between earth
and a mars-sized
object
Great showers of rock
like particles
bombarded the moons
surface. Created large
and small basins.
 Hot lava poured out
and formed the Maria.



Micro
Meteorites
Lunar Rocks
Tiny objects no larger
than a grain of sand.
 Major cause of
erosion on the moon.
 All earths rocks differ
from lunar rocks
 Contain no water.
 Mare basalts are the
youngest lunar rocks.
 Oldest would be the
lunar Highlands.
 Original lunar surface

Moons Phases

Phases of the
Moon



Daily changes in the moon's
appearance. Moon phases
occur for two reasons.
One is that the moon is
seen by reflected sunlight.
Two the moon is in orbit
around the Earth.

Important
The sun lights the half
of the moon that is
facing it. However,
except for a short time
each month, the half
that always faces Earth
is not the half lit by the
sun.
 The following is a chart
showing the different
phases of the moon
seen from earth.

From Earth, the face of the moon changes from
all dark to all light or from new moon to full moon
in about two weeks.
During this time the moon is said to be WAXING
or getting brighter and larger.
After the full moon phase the moon will appear to
start to shrink or less of the moon’s surface is
visible after each night.
During this time until there is no moon visible the
moon is said to be WANING
New moon
Waxing Crescent
Waning Crescent
Waxing quarter
Waning quarter
Waxing gibbous
Waning Gibbous
Full Moon
Label either waning or
waxing.
Video: Phases of the moon
– http://viewpure.com/nXseTW
TZlks
Lunar Month

Lunar month



The time from one new
moon to the next new
moon. Or one revolution
around the earth.
Curiously this time is not
always the same.
One revolution around the
earth takes 27.3 days and
one lunar month is 29.5
days.
Lunar Eclipses

Shadows
Umbra
 Penumbra

Are cast by any opaque
object.
 Has two parts.
 Is the total shadow
 Is the partial shadow
surrounding the umbra.

Solar Eclipses
 Occur
when the umbra reaches
earth’s surface
 Greatest width is 269 km
 Sun’s corona and chromo sphere are
visible
 Occurs
Annular Eclipse
when the moon is at the
apogee (furthest point from Earth)
 See Sun as a thin ring
 Only occur during a new moon
 Last ~7.5 minutes