Moon

DATA:
NAME:	moon
ORBIT:	384,400 km from Earth
DIA:	3,476km
MASS	7.35 X 1022 kg

Moon:

The moon is the second brightest object in the sky after the sun. It is the only extraterrestrial body that has ever been visited by humans and also the only one from which soil samples have been brought to earth. The moon orbits the earth once a month. The angle between the earth, the moon and the sun is constantly changing. This can be seen in the cycles of the moon phases.

The moon orbits the earth from west to east in 27 days, 7 hours and 43.7 minutes. This happens in the same sense in which the earth rotates around its own axis.

First moon landings:

The first Soviet probe to fall on the moon on September 13, 1959 was Lunik 2. The first soft landing was on February 3, 1966 by Luna 9. The Apollo 11 made the first manned landing on July 20, 1969

Orbit:

The moon`s orbit around the earth is roughly circular, with the largest and smallest distances each deviating by 5.5 percent from the mean.

The closest point to the earth (perigee) is 363,200 km. The farthest point from earth (apogee). Is 405,500 km. The passages of the moon through the orbital plane of the earth are called lunar nodes or kite points. The ascending nodes describe the entry into the northern hemisphere, the descending into the southern hemisphere.

The moon orbits the sun together with the earth. Due to the movement around the earth, however, the moon oscillates around a common elliptical orbit.

orbital period

The orbit of the moon, the month can be set using these criteria.

This is important for the solar and lunar eclipses.

phases of the moon

The moon`s appearance changes as it orbits. The moon goes through the following lunar phases:

Waxing moon: waxing crescent from right to left
Full moon: The earth is between the sun and the moon
The illustration applies to viewing from the northern hemisphere of the earth. In contrast, when observing the moon from the southern hemisphere, the visual appearance is reversed.

darkness