Average distance from Earth: 238,855 miles (384,400 km).How does the moon's orbit Earth and cause tides? Daytime temperatures on the sunny side of the moon reach 273 degrees F (134 Celsius) on the night side, it gets as cold as minus 243 F (minus 153 C). And without much of an atmosphere, heat is not held near the surface, so temperatures vary wildly. The moon has only a very thin atmosphere, so a layer of dust - or a footprint - can sit undisturbed for centuries. Meanwhile, a 2017 study suggested the moon's interior could be abundant in water too. Ongoing observations from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have shown that water is more abundant on slopes facing the lunar south pole, although scientists do caution that the water quantity is comparable to an extremely dry desert. They have also located hundreds of pits that could one day house explorers living on the moon long-term. Orbiting spacecraft have found traces of water on the lunar surface that may have originated from deep underground. The average composition of the lunar surface by weight is roughly 43% oxygen, 20% silicon, 19% magnesium, 10% iron, 3% calcium, 3% aluminum, 0.42% chromium, 0.18% titanium and 0.12% manganese. It's pockmarked with craters created by asteroid impacts millions of years ago and, because there is no weather, the craters have not eroded. Like our solar system's four innermost planets, the moon is rocky. This image is a mosaic of multiple images taken by Galileo.
The moon's north pole as seen by NASA's Galileo spacecraft in 1998.
0 kommentar(er)
