The Moon’s Features

Earth’s Moon The Greeks thought the moon was perfectly smooth. 1609- Galileo Galilei made his own telescope by putting two lenses in a wooden tube. He was able to see details of the moon, that had never been seen before. Features of the moon include- maria, craters, and highlands.

The moon’s surface The moon’s surface has dark, flat areas, which GaIileo called maria, the Latin word for “seas.” Galileo thought the maria were oceans. He was wrong. The maria are hardened rock formed from lava flows that occurred between 3-4 billion years ago. The moon has many craters covering the surface. Some craters are hundreds of kilometers across.

Moon’s Surface A long time ago scientist thought volcanoes caused these craters. Today they know that meteoroids hitting the surface caused these holes. Meteoroids are chunks of rock or dusk from space. On Earth our craters have been worn away over time by water, wind and other forces. Since the moon has no liquid water or atmosphere, its surface has changed very little over billions of years.

Moon’s surface cont… Galileo correctly guessed that some of the light colored features of the moon were highlands, or mountains. The peaks of the highlands and the rims of the craters cast dark shadows. The rugged lunar highlands cover much of the moon’s surface.

Put on your thinking caps!! Who first observed the moon’s features? Galileo Maria is the Latin word for ------. “seas” What are maria? Hardened lava flows What causes the craters on the moon? Meteoroids What are highlands? Mountains that cast shadows