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Anomalistic – the length of time it takes the moon to circle the Earth, measured from one perigee (the closest point in its orbit to Earth) to the next: 27 days, 13 hours, 18 minutes, 37.4 seconds.
- Most of the people think that the Moon is round in shape, but it’s not. The Moon is shaped like an egg.
- The Moon’s size varies depends upon its position, whether it is at perigee or apogee. Generally, the Moon is 14% bigger in its size when it is at its perigee.
- Temperatures on the Moon vary drastically, as there is no atmosphere on the Moon. The temperature ranges from temperatures -200°F to more than 200 °F.
- Scientists believe that Moon quakes originate below the Moon’s surface due to the Earth’s gravitational pull.
- A lunar eclipse lasts longer than a solar eclipse because Earth’s shadow is so much longer. In a lunar eclipse, the earth passes between Sun and the Moon.
- The Moon is 81 times lighter than Earth.
- We can see only one side of the Moon and believe that there is a dark side of the Moon. But this is a myth because the Moon rotates around on its own axis in exactly the same time it takes to orbit the Earth.
- The Moon has weaker gravitational force than earth, it has only one-sixth of Earth’s gravitational force, that is why astronauts can jump so high.
- The Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth. Every year, the Moon moves roughly 3.8 cm further away from Earth. Scientific estimates suggest this will continue to happen for 50 billion years. At that point, the Moon will take 47 days to orbit the Earth, compared to the current time of 27.3 days.
- Only 12 people have ever walked on the Moon. It started with Neil Armstrong in 1969 as part of the Apollo 11 mission and ended with Gene Cernan in 1972 on the Apollo 17 mission. A total of 12 American males have walked on the Moon. Since 1972, all lunar missions have been unmanned spacecraft.
- A solar eclipse is when the Moon passes between the Sun and the Earth – causing a shadow to project onto the Earth’s surface.
- The Moon will be visited by a man again. NASA has plans to set up a permanent space station on the Moon, and man may walk on the Moon again sometime around 2019-2020.