1 Lunar eclipse When the moon passes through the Earth’s shadow. They occur 2-3 times a year.

Have you ever wondered why the moon is more orange or yellow in color when it first rises at night? This effect is caused by the atmosphere of the earth. The reason for the orange color is due to the scattering of light by the atmosphere. When the moon is near the horizon, the moonlight must pass through much more atmosphere than when the moon is directly overhead. The moon can have an orange color at any time of the year. Sometimes the moon appears orange even when it's directly overhead. This occurs when there's a lot of dust, smoke, or pollution in the atmosphere. The size of those particles will determine the type of color you will see.

2 Solar eclipse When the Earth passes through the moon’s shadow. They occur about once every 2 years. The next total solar eclipse visible from the mainland U.S. will be on August 21, 2017.

Solar Eclipse

Why can’t I look at a solar eclipse? Did you ever take a magnifying glass out into the sun and burn leaves? If so, you probably remember that the focused sunlight coming through the lens was concentrated to a small spot (refracted!) and got hot enough to start the fire. Well, you have a lens just like that in your eye. If you look at the sun, your eye- lens will concentrate the sun's light and focus it to a very small spot on the back of your retina. This can cause permanent eye damage or blindness! Additionally, there are no pain sensors back there so you won't even know it's happening! The damage may not be apparent for several hours.

3 Tides What are tides? –The periodic rise and fall of the sea level under the gravitational pull of the moon.

The Moon’s gravity exerts a strong pull on Earth. The water bulges outward as Earth and the Moon revolve around a common center of mass. The moon’s gravity pulls on the earth, and pulls the water towards it. The water moves up into a slight bulge on the side of the earth that faces the moon.

4 Spring & Neap Tides Spring (strong) – High tides are higher than usual and low tides are lower than usual. This happens twice a month during the new and full moons. Neap (weak) – High tides are lower than usual and low tides are higher than usual. This happens twice a month during the first and third quarter moon phases.

5 Moon’s Surface Craters, Maria, Highlands, Mountains, Valleys,

6 Maria Large, dark flat areas People thought they were the “seas” Formed by huge lava flows