[ General Moon Information ] [ Moon Surface Features ] [ Moon Phases ] [ The Sun ] [ Eclipses ] [ Moon and Sun Questions Revealed ] [ Leap Years and the Calendar ]

"The Moon and the Sun are the most important things to Earth. The Moon is the closest heavenly body to Earth, and it is Earth’s only satellite. The Sun gives humans light and heat in the daytime, and the Moon gives humans light at night."

General Moon Information

The Moon had been a mystery until the first Soviet space probe, Luna 1, orbited it on January 2, 1959. The first space probe to land on the Moon was an American probe, Apollo 11. Apollo 11 astronauts, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldren, were the first humans to set foot on the Moon. Their footprints will live for thousands of years because there is no wind to grind them away.

The Sun

Did you know the Sun is really white? Humans see the sunlight after it has been filtered through the atmosphere. The air scatters a blue component, making the sky look blue and the sun look yellow. The Sun is so hot! The core is 27,000,000° F, and the surface is 10,900° F. There are 4 layers that make up the Sun.

Moon and Sun Questions Revealed

The Sun and the Moon play lots of trick on our minds. Sometimes they appear bigger or smaller than we usually see them. Four theories try to explain how the Moon was formed. Astronomers have wondered about this for thousands of years.

Moon Phases

When we look at the Moon, why does it look different than it did a week ago? This is because the Moon orbits around the Earth. The changes we see are called phases. There are 4 main phases. There is usually a different phase about each week.

Leap Years

Julius Caesar introduced leap years during the time he ruled the Roman Empire to keep the calendar in step with the seasons. In 1582 the calendar was 11 days off. Pope Gregory asked for the calendar to be fixed again. He thought of an easy way to remember which years would be leap years. Find out how!

Moon Surface Features

Here, we have interesting information about what is on the Moon’s surface and how it was created. There are huge craters, rays of exploded material, marias and mountains forming, and many more facts you will find interesting and exciting! When a meteoroid impacts on the Moon, its force blasts a crater, raging in size from as small as 1 inch to over 100 miles across! Astronomers believed they were formed several billion years ago, just after the Moon was created and when it still had a thin crust.

Eclipses

If you want to know what causes eclipses and what they are, then you have come to the right place! In this section you will learn what eclipses are and what causes them. You will also learn what solar and lunar eclipses are. And if you want to know how the eclipse helped Columbus, just read on. You will also learn how to safely and inexpensively view partial and total solar eclipses.

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[ General Moon Information ] [ Moon Surface Features ] [ Moon Phases ] [ The Sun ] [ Eclipses ] [ Moon and Sun Questions Revealed ] [ Leap Years and the Calendar ]

Unless otherwise noted, all images courtesy of NASA. Permission for use at http://www.nasa.gov/gallery/photo/guideline.html.

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