Chapter7 Lesson 4

?What is know
Motions of
the Moon
The moon is the Earth’s closest
neighbor.
The moon revolves around Earth
.while Earth revolves around the sun
1
The moon takes about27 days to
complete one revolution around
Earth.
2 The moon also rotates on its axis
about once every 27 days.
Because these two motions happen
at the same rate,

the same side of the moon always

.faces Earth
 Moon
Phases
The moon is the brightest object
in the night sky. But the moon
does not make light.
It reflects light from the sun.
Moon shining = reflected sunlight
Half of the moon is always lit by
the sun. But the moon’s lit half
cannot always be seen from
Earth.
Everyday, we can see different
parts of the sunlit half.
These changes are caused by
the movements of Earth and
. the moon in their orbits
Moon phase is the shape the moon
.seems to have at a given time
The moon’s phases change in a
cycle that repeats every29½ days
New moon is when none of the
moon appears lit (no part of the
.moon’s lit half is visible
First quarter phase is when the
moon looks like a half circle a week
.after the new moon
Full moon phase is when the moon
happens about two weeks after the
new moon. You see all of the lit half
of the moon.
((the moon looks like a complete circle
Third quarter phase is when
three-fourths of the moon’s
cycle is complete. In a week, you
see less and less of the moon’s lit
half. Then there is a new moon
Characteristic
s of the Moon
The moon is the closest natural-1
object to Earth. It is 384000
kilometers (239000 miles) away.

2-The moon is smaller and has

much less mass than Earth. In
fact, Earth’s volume is 49 times
greater than the moon’s volume.
.Earth has 81 times more mass
The moon’s surface has many craters.
Crater is a bowl-shaped hole on the
.surface of an object in space
Most of the moon’s craters formed
when large objects, such as
.asteroids, smashed into the moon
When you look at the moon, you
see that there are light and dark
areas on it.

The light areas are mountains

and highlands.
There are many craters in these
.areas
The dark parts of the moon are
.flat areas with some craters
Billions of years ago, volcanoes
erupted on the moon.
Lava from these eruptions spread
out and hardened. It formed the
.dark areas
The temperature on the moon’s surface varies.
During the day, the temperature can
rise as high as 127C (260F).
At night, it can get as cold as -173C
((-280F
Telescopes
Telescope makes objects that are
far away look like they are nearer
and larger.
You can use a telescope to see more
details of the light and dark areas
.on the moon’s surface
People have used spacecrafts to
put telescopes in outer space.
The Hubble Space Telescope
began orbiting Earth in 1990.

scientists use it to observe and

take pictures of plants, stars,
.moons, and other space objects