Why does the Moon change its Shape ?

   

               The moon which causes high and low tides on the Earth, is a sphere. It does not change its shape only our view of it changes. The reason is that unlike the stars the moon does not produce light but only reflects the light of the sun. Since the moon goes around the earth once in a month, the orientation of the moon, the sun, and earth respective to one another changes.

                  For this reason, the illuminated part of the moon cannot always be seen clearly from the earth. Sometimes we see it full, sometimes we see it full sometimes half,and sometimes not at all. The side of the moon that faces us remains the same. We can see the craters and dark sports on the moon, which are known as “mares”.

 About the moon.

  The moon is earth’s only natural satellite. It is a rocky satellite that orbits the earth. It is the largest natural satellite in the solar system ,and the fifth largest satellite. The brightest  and largest object in our night sky .The moon  makes earth a more livable planet.

v Distance to earth: 384,400km

v Size: 1/4 of earth size.

v Age:  4.53 billion years.

Interesting facts about the moon

Ø The moon is earth’s only permanent natural satellite.

Ø The moon always shows earth the same face.

Ø The moon’s surface is actually dark.

Ø The moon is drifting away from the earth-3.8cm every year.

Ø The moon was made when a rock smashed in to earth.

Ø The moon has quarter too & can last up to half an hour.

Ø There is water on the moon.

Formation

      The moon formed during a collision between the earth & another small plant about the size of mars. The debris from this impact collected in an orbit around earth to form the moon.

Types of moon

    New moon

    First quarter

    Full moon

    Third quarter

·        NEW MOON:

                                                      New moon is when the sun & moon  are aligned with the sun &  earth on opposite sides of the moon

·        FIRST QUARTER:

The moon is 90 degrees away from the sun in the sky & is half illuminated  from our point of view and the  moon has travelled about a quarter of the way around earth  .

·        FULL MOON:

Full moon  is when the sun and the moon are aligned  on opposite sides of earth and 100% of the moons face is illuminated by the sun.

·        THIRD QUARTER:

Third quarter moon is a half moon, the quarter moon is when the opposite half of the moon is illuminated.

 

Why is the moon invisible at times?

       We cannot see the moon, which reflects the light from the sun, when sunlight falling on it is not visible  from the earth, or when something comes in the way of reflected light. The first phenomenon occurs every four weeks at new moon.At this time the moon is positioned between the earth and the sun.

      It reflects the light,but from the’ invisible side’ so that we cannot see its illuminated surface.The second phenomenon occurs during  a lunar eclipse.In this case the earth is positioned on a straight line between the sun and the moon,& consequently the sunlight does not fall on the moon.

      

              Phases of the moon :

                                 There are 8 phases  the cycle repeats once a month

v NEW MOON

v WAXING CRESCENT

v FIRST QUARTER

v WAXING GIBBBOUS

v FULL MOON

v WANIG GIBBOUS

v THIRD QUARTER

v WANIG CRESCEN