User:Planet-discovered

All About the Moon

When the Moon is not in its new phase, it can be seen on clear days or nights from anywhere on the surface of Earth if you know when to look. The Moon is the Earth’s only natural satellite, and has never been given any other scientific name. The Moon is about 384,403 kilometers from Earth, and has an approximate diameter of 3,476 km. The Moon is actually believed to be slowly moving farther away from Earth, at a rate of about 4cm per year!

The Moon makes one full orbit around the Earth every 29.5 days. During this period the Moon enters a series of phases, which changes the amount of light reflected off its surface and its visible shape to the naked eye from Earth. The Moon differs from most natural satellites of other planets in that its orbit is close to the plane of the ecliptic and not in the Earth's equatorial plane.

Exploration of the moon began in 1959 when the unmanned Luna 2 landed on its surface. Luna 2 was closely followed by Luna 3 in late 1959, which obtained the first images of the occluded far side of the moon, and the first people to land on the Moon came aboard Apollo 11 on that historic night in 1969.

For more information on the moon, simple click on any moon picture, article, video or other interactive feature below.