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This article is about Earth's natural satellite. For moons in general, see Natural satellite. For other uses, see Moon (disambiguation). The Moon is Earth 's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth.
Earth's Moon is the brightest and largest object in our night sky. The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years.
1 day ago · Moon, Earth ’s sole natural satellite and nearest large celestial body. Known since prehistoric times, it is the brightest object in the sky after the Sun. It is designated by the symbol ☽. Its name in English, like that of Earth, is of Germanic and Old English derivation.
The Moon is opposite the Sun, as viewed from Earth, revealing the Moon’s dayside. A full moon rises around sunset and sets around sunrise. The Moon will appear full for a couple of days before it moves into…
Jul 9, 2024 · Quick Facts: Earth has just one moon – a rocky, cratered place, roughly a quarter the size of Earth and an average of 238,855 miles away. The Moon can be seen with the naked eye most nights as it traces its 27-day orbit around our planet. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It goes around the Earth at a distance of about 239,000 miles (385,000 kilometers). The Earth and Moon are tidally locked. Their rotations are so in sync we only see one side of the Moon. Humans didn't see the lunar far side until a Soviet spacecraft flew past in 1959.
The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth several billion years ago. Earth's Moon is the only place beyond Earth where humans have set foot, so far. Earth's only natural satellite is simply called "the Moon" because people didn't know other moons existed until Galileo Galilei discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter ...
As you sail onward, you see our planet and its Moon locked together in their endless, circling, gravitational embrace. Your distant view gives you a unique perspective on the Moon that can be hard to visualize from the ground, where the Moon appears to sweep through the sky as an ever-changing globe of light.
Jul 9, 2024 · The Moon displays these eight phases one after the other as it moves through its cycle each month. It takes about 27.3 days for the Moon to orbit Earth. However, because of how sunlight hits the Moon, it takes about 29.5 days to go from one new moon to the next new moon. Here’s what the Moon looks like right now from Earth:
May 22, 2024 · A moon is an object that orbits a planet or something else that is not a star. Besides planets, moons can circle dwarf planets, large asteroids, and other bodies. Objects that orbit other objects are also called satellites, so moons are sometimes called natural satellites.
