The Moon

Our nearest neighbor

 Info about the Moon
◼ Diameter: 3,476 km (0.27 earth) (5th largest, 2nd in density)
◼ Distance from Earth: 384,000 km (239,000 miles)
◼ Surface gravity: 0.16
◼ Roughly same surface area as Africa
◼ Orbital period: 27.3 days
◼ Day: 27.3 days (tidally locked)
◼ No atmosphere
◼ Daytime Temp = 224F, night= -244F
◼ Surface features:
◼ Heavily cratered, old uplands
◼ Maria, or lava flows, 16% surface
◼ Water on the Moon?
◼ Crust is 60-70 km (3x earth’s)
◼ Mantle
◼ Core is probably iron, > 450km in diameter (25% lunar diameter)
Lunar Interior
 Moonquakes
1) Deep earthquakes from mantle
region (700 km deep) – tides
2) Vibrations from impacts
3) Thermal quakes from expansion
of crust
4) Shallow quakes 20-30 km deep,
can last for 10 minutes, mag 5.5
Near and Far Sides of the Moon
North and South Poles
Phases of the Moon
Map of Sunlight on the North Pole
The Surface of the Moon

Maria (seas) – dark areas

– solidified pools of ancient
lava reflect less light
Terrae (highlands) – light
areas – very ancient surface
of moon

Impact craters – “spots”

 Maria
1) Solidified pools of basaltic lava – lava
flowed into old impact basins
1) Thin crust allowed lava flows
2) High iron content
3) Evidence for old shield volcanoes
4) Found mostly on near side – 31% of
surface on near side
5) Most 3-3.5 billion years old, a few as
young as 1.2 billion years
Volcanoes on the Moon
Volcanoes on Earth, Io, Moon
Lunar Surface
Lunar Highlands
• Heavily Cratered
• Ancient – as old as 4 billion
years
• Shows dominance of
impacts in early history of
solar system – 300k craters
larger than 1 km
• Evidence that formed from
magma ocean
• “mountains” do not have
same origin as earth
 Impact Craters
◼ ~0.5 million craters
◼ Can be used to
estimate age
Crater Formation
Crater Formation 2
Copernicus Crater

Age: 800 million

years (Apollo 12)
Size: 93 km
Fresh Crater Showing Ejecta
Copernicus
Tycho Crater
• 110 Million years
• 85 km
• Bright ejecta make
it a prominent
feature
Piece of Ejecta from Tycho
 Other Lunar Features
Evidence that
the moon is still
contracting

Graben: trench that forms due to expansion of lunar surface

Topographical Map of Graben
Lobate Scarps – More evidence of
contraction
• Known as a thrust fault –
where crust of the moon is
pushing together.
• Steep face on one side, gentle
slope on the other
Rilles – Canyons/Trenches on the
Moon
Rille – from a
collapsed lava
tube?
Longest Rille on the Moon

160 km x 10 km
Wrinkle Ridges
• Formed when lava
cools and
contracts

160 km x 10 km
Wrinkle Ridges in the Sea of
Tranquillity.
Lunar Soil (regolith)
Regolith
• Mechanical disintegration of
basalt and other rocks on the
moon due to meteor impacts
and bombardment by solar
and cosmic high energy
particles.
• No organic components.
• Rock fragments, glass,
volcanic and impact
spherules
Water
Apollo 11 Landing Site
Views from the lunar surface
Apollo 12
Apollo 13 Views of Far Side of the
Moon
Apollo 14
Apollo 17
 Orbit of the Moon

Plane of Earth’s equator: Celestial equator – tilted 23.5 deg wrt Solar system
Tilt of moon’s equator wrt its orbit – 6.68 deg
Tilt of moon’s axis wrt solar system = 1.53 deg
Axis of moon – tilted 1.53 deg wrt moon’s orbit
 Orbit of the Moon

Barycenter = underneath the surface of the earth

Barycenter = ∑(rimi)/∑(mi)
Lunar Libration
 Evolution of Moon’s orbit
◼ Tides
◼ Neither the moon or the earth is perfectly symmetric
◼ When formed, Earth/moon much closer together and rotated much
faster
◼ Moon 12,000-29,000 miles away
◼ Orbital period ~4hrs
◼ Earth’s day a few hours less (dinosaur day about 2 hrs shorter)
◼ Tides are transferring momentum from Earth to the moon
◼ Means – moon is moving further away from Earth (1.5 in/yr)
◼ Earth’s rotation period slowing about 0.002 s/century
◼ Final solution =
◼ Orbital period and Earth’s day ~ 47 days.
◼ Moon’s distance 348,000 miles instead of 239,000
◼ 10s of billions of years
 Formation
◼ Fission Hypothesis
◼ Capture
◼ Co-Formation
◼ Impact
Collision