04/02/2016

Moon


The Moon is a natural satellite which orbits the Earth and always shows the same face, the other side of moon is hidden.
It is the fifth largest satellite in our Solar System its diameter is 3474 Km.
The largest satellite in our solar system is Jupiter's satellite Ganymede, and the second largest satellite is Titan which orbits Saturn.
The first person to put foot on the Moon was Neil Armstrong.
The gravitational forces between Earth and the Moon causes periodic rise and falls in sea water and known as the tides. When the Earth comes between the Sun and the Moon a Lunar eclipse occurs, and when the Moon comes between Earth and the Sun a Solar eclipse occurs. A lunar eclipse can lasts for a few hours while a solar eclipse is lasts only for few minutes. We can look at lunar eclipse directly but we should not view solar eclipse directly because it radiate ultraviolet radiations which can cause harmful effects in our eyes. 
The time taken by Moon to complete one full revolution around the Earth is called sidereal month, the sidereal month lasts 27.3 days. And the time taken by Moon to return to its original position is called synodic month, the synodic month lasts 29.5 days.