SOLAR
SYSTEM
STARS
BLACK
HOLES
METEORS AND
METEORITES
ASTEROIDS
COMETS
GALAXIES
NEBULAE
GLOSSARY
|
Moon
|
Earth
has only one natural satellite, called the Moon. Many scientists
have given different hypothesis for the formation of the Moon. One
class of theories states that after the formation of the Earth,
a Meteorite
hit the Earth and a part of the Earth was broken up to form the
Moon. But another theory states that the formation of the Moon was
similar to that of the Earth. Nowadays, the second class of theories
is widely accepted. The Lunar mountains in the Hadley-apennine area
were explored by the Apollo 15 mission. Covering about 23 km, the
Lunar Rowing Vehicle was used to help collect rock samples. These
showed a maximum age of about 4.5 billion years. When the Moon formed
by the accretion , it was initially molten, and no permanent surface
features had formed. Compared with other satellites of the Solar
System, the Moon is large in relation to the Earth.
If you look at the surface of the Moon even with a small telescope,
you will be able to see the craters clearly. These craters are huge
pits on the surface of the Moon. They were possibly caused by collision
of the Meteorites on the Lunar surface. Moon has a gravity of one-sixth
that of the Earth and is about 4 times smaller than the Earth. The
Moon has no atmosphere. Hence when Meteorites move towards the Moon,
there is no opposing force to stop them, they directly hit the surface
creating huge pits called - impact craters.
|
![Moon (Earth's Moon)](images/Moon/clem_full_moon_strtrk.jpg)
Image : Moon
Source: NASA/NSSDC
|
![Apollo Rover](images/SpaceProbes/apollo_rover.jpg)
Image : Apollo Rover
Source: NASA/NSSDC
|
These craters are more in
number on the 'Far side' of the moon, the face of the Moon we cannot
see from the Earth. But on the near side, there are patches called
'Seas of the moon'. Neil Armstrong was the first man to land on
the Moon on 20th July, 1969 and till today 12 men have landed on
the Moon. We cannot see the other side of the moon for the simple
reason that the period of rotation of the Moon about its own axis
and the period of revolution of the Moon around the earth is one
and the same (27 days, 7 hours, 43 mins and 11 sec. This means that
one side always faces the Earth and the other side never faces the
Earth.
The lunar landing module Eagle ascends from the surface of the Moon
after Apollo 11 mission in July 1969. For the first time, the human
race had established a foothold on a world beyond its own. In the
view of some scientists, the appearance of intelligent life and
its colonization of the universe was designing into the laws of
the cosmos from the very beginning.
|
|
|