Facts about the Moon
- 10
Earth's gravity creates tidal locking on the Moon, causing its core to heat up through friction, generating enough internal warmth that volcanic eruptions occurred until approximately 1.2 billion years ago.
- 09
Synchronous rotation means the same face of the Moon always points toward Earth because its rotation period matches its 27.3-day orbital period.
- 08
Rocks collected from the Moon during Apollo missions contain no water, yet orbital observations by NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter confirmed water ice deposits in permanently shadowed craters near the lunar poles.
- 07
Ocean tides on Earth are primarily caused by the Moon's gravitational pull, which raises water levels by an average of 0.6 meters during high tide.
- 06
Approximately 3.8 billion years ago, a Mars-sized celestial body called Theia collided with the early Earth, and the resulting debris coalesced to form the Moon through gravitational accumulation.
- 05
At approximately 3,474 kilometers in diameter, the Moon is about one-quarter the size of Earth and large enough to create total solar eclipses when positioned between Earth and the Sun.
- 04
Lunar dust collected during Apollo missions contains tiny glass beads formed by micrometeorite impacts that expose radioactive elements to cosmic radiation dating back 3 billion years.
- 03
Impact craters covering the Moon's surface reveal that it experienced heavy bombardment approximately 3.8 to 4.1 billion years ago during the Late Heavy Bombardment period.
- 02
Apollo 11 astronauts left retroreflectors on the lunar surface in 1969 that scientists still use today to measure Earth-Moon distance with centimeter precision.
- 01
The Moon orbits Earth every 27.3 days and is slowly drifting away at approximately 3.8 centimeters per year.