Moon, Moon Phases &

Eclipses
The Moon
 Myths about the Moon

The Moon is made of cheese!                                

There is a Man in the Moon.   
The Moon and the Sun chase each other across the sky. 
The Moon disappears during certain days of the month.
There are men or other creatures living on the Moon. 
The Moon was put in the sky by a person or animal. 
The Moon is a living creature or a god. 
The Moon controls how we act and how we feel.              
During a full moon, some people turn into werewolves. 
The Moon is pulled across the sky by a person, animal, or force.
  
 Myths
• Greek goddess Artemis, roman goddess Diana
 Myths
• Chinese mythology: Chang’e
• Moon festival
 Calendar
• The current standard calendar is solar calendar (Gregorian
calendar) – counting days

• The moon phases have a period of 29.5 days, a good

measure of time
• Lunar calendars – counting days and months
• E.g. Islamic calendar is a lunar calendar
• 29.5 * 12 = 354, 11 days less than 365

• Lunisolar calendar – Chinese calendar, Hebrew calendar

• Adding leap months, with a circle of 19 years
 Moon – our closest natural celestial
body neighbor
• The earth’s only natural satellite
• Orbit around the earth is an elliptical
• Average distance from the earth to
the moon is 384,403 kilometers
(238,857 miles) – 30 times the
diameter of the earth
• Diameter of 3,474 km, ¼ of the earth
• Gravity 1/6 of the earth
 Moon’s orbit
• The orbit period around the earth – 27.3 days
• The spin period is exactly the same!
• We always see the same side of the moon! ( precisely
speaking 59% of the surface during the whole period of
the moon revolution. Reason: libration). We see only 50% of
the moon’s surface at one time. Even so, over time, lunar
libration lets careful observers peek at a tiny portion of the
moon’s far side, due to the wobble of the moons axis during its
rotation.

• The period of Lunar Phase – 29.5 days

• Because of the earth’s revolution in the space

• The orbit plane of the moon is tilted by ~5 degree with

respect to the earth’s orbit around the sun, unlike other
planets
 Moon’s orbit
• The orbit plane of the moon is tilted by ~5 degree
with respect to the earth’s orbit around the sun,
unlike other planets
Near Side Far Side
 Moon’s surface
Highland
• Maria (sigular mare, ‘sea’ in Latin)
– Dark areas and were thought to be
seas
Maria – Cover 31% of the near side, but only
2% of the far side
– No water but vast pools of solidified
lava that flowed into basins formed
by comets/metors colliding
– Nomenclature
• Latin terms describing the weather
and abstract concepts
– Smaller dark regions
• Lacus (Lake)
Crater
• Palus (marsh)
• Sinus" (bay)
 Moon’s surface
Highland
• Highland
– Lighter color regions, or
called Terrae
– Many are impact basins’ outer
Maria rims
– In contrast to earth, no major
lunar mountains were formed
as a result of tectonic events
– Mountains and mountain
ranges

– Different brightness of the

highlands and maria is because
they are composed of different
rock types
Crater
 Craters
• Formed when asteroids/comets
hit the lunar surface
• Half a million craters with
diameters larger than 1km
• Crater counting – to estimate
the age of the lunar surface

• The largest crater is

South Pole-Aitken basin, with
2,240 kms in diameter and 13
kms in depth
• Nomenclature:
– Large craters, deceased
famous scientists, artists
– Small craters, common first • Daedalus, 93 km in diameter
names • Proposed as a site for a large radio telescope
Known maria, highlads and craters
 The formation of the moon
• Born from the earth - broke off from the earth
by centrifugal forces, and left the pacific ocean
behind
• Captured by the earth’s gravity
• Co-formation with the earth

• Giant impact hypothesis

– An impact of a Mars-sized body collide w/ the proto-
Earth and ejected materials to orbit around the earth –
the Moon
 Explorations of the moon

• Ancient people observed the moon by naked eyes, and wrote

poems and essays, and told myths
• Galileo first observed the moon using an telescope
• The only celestial body the human being has orbited and
landed
– First impact: Luna 2 of Soviet Union in 1959
– First far side picture: Luna 3 in 1959
– First soft landing: Luna 9 in 1966
– First men’s step on the moon: Apollo 11 in 1969
 Moon Phases
• Why does the moon change phases?
• Lunar phases are the result of our eyes seeing the
illuminated half of the Moon from different
viewing geometries
• Due to the Moon’s orbital positions
The Moon’s Orbit around the earth
Moon Phases
 Complete this
Say, Sun rises at 6am and sets at 6pm

Moon Phase Moon Rise Time

New Moon Sunrise/6am

Waxing Crescent 9am

First Quarter 12pm

Waxing Gibbous 3pm

Full Moon 6pm

Waning Gibbous 9pm

Third Quarter 12am

Waning Crescent 3am

 When new moon occurs, what is the phase of the earth
if you stand on the moon?

Full earth!

The earth always has an opposite phase to the moon.

 Eclipses
• Have you seen eclipses?
• What are eclipses in nature?
– One celestial object casts its shadow on the
other one
 Solar Eclipses
• Sun – the shadow of the moon on the earth

Total solar eclipse in 1999

A – total eclipse
B – annular eclipse
C – partial eclipse
 Lunar Eclipses
• Moon – the shadow of the earth on the
moon
Lunar Eclipse
What’s the moon phase when a solar eclipse occurs?
New Moon

What’s the moon phase when a lunar eclipse occurs?

Full Moon
Why aren’t there solar eclipses and lunar eclipses on EVERY
new moon and full moon?
Two conditions must be satisfied for an
eclipse to occur
1. The nodes of the moon’s orbit must be
nearly aligned with the Sun and the
Earth
2. The phase of the moon must be new or
full
 Eclipses Cycle
• Every year there are at least two lunar eclipses
• Lunar eclipses and solar eclipses always come in
pairs
• Lunar eclipses can be seen everywhere on the
earth, but the solar eclipses may only be seen on
part of the earth
 Discussion Board
• Research and Describe perigee and apogee.

• Blue Moon

• When will the next solar and lunar full

eclipses occur that can be seen from N.C.
Solar eclipses