THE MOON

Motion of the Moon The moon revolves around the Earth and rotates on its own axis. 27.3 days to revolve around Earth. 27.3 days to rotate on its axis. 27.3 Earth days = 1 moon year. The moon revolves around Earth in the same amount of time the moon takes to rotate. As a result, the near side of the moon always faces Earth.

Moon Phases Moon does not produce light, it reflect light from the sun. The phases of the moon you see depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon you see.

Eclipses When the moon’s shadow hits Earth or Earth’s shadow hits the moon, an eclipse occurs. Solar = moon passes between Earth and the sun. Lunar = occurs at a full moon when Earth is directly between the moon and the sun.

Solar Eclipse

Total Solar Eclipse

Stages of a solar eclipse

Total Lunar Eclipse

Stages of Lunar Eclipse

Tides Rise and fall of water. ~6 hour cycle Tides occur mainly because of the differences in the gravitational force of the moon and Earth.