 Satellite – an object that orbits a more massive object  Ex: The Moon  Ex: Moons of other planets  Many of the planets have satellites

 The moon stays in place because of Earths’ gravity  There is 240,000 miles separating Earth and the Moon  About the size from New York to LA 100 times  If a plane took us to the moon it would take us 20 days  It took space ships about three days  We only see one side of the moon

 The side of the moon that we see is referred to as the near side of the moon  Most of this side of the moon is the dark colored features, with some white features  The side looking away from Earth is called the far side of the moon  Most of this side of the moon is the light color that we see, with very few black spots

 Crust, just like earth thing only about 40 miles thick  Mantle, makes up most of the Moon, made of iron and magnesium  Core, material from here did not reach the Moon’s surface, so we do not know much about it.

 Mare – The dark area on the moon  The Latin word for sea, however, there is no water on the moon  Highlands – The light colored areas on the moon  These areas are higher in altitude than mare  The moon has no water, oceans, clouds, or life

 The highlands on the moon have many round features on them, these are called impact craters  Space “junk” hit the moon and left these holes  These collisions happened quite frequently when the solar system was forming, not as frequently today

 Some impact craters filled with molten rock, or lava from beneath the Moon’s surface  The lava eventually filled some of the craters, hardened, and this is what we see as maria

 Earth and Moon have similar crusts and mantles.  Scientists think that two space bodies hit each other.  1. Most of the material formed Earth’s core  2. Little bits and pieces formed Earth and Moon’s crust and mantle  3. Pieces that we left formed into the moon and started to orbit earth  Happened quickly – only about a year!