Earth and beyond

our Moon

phases of the Moon

what is a lunar eclipse?

the coloured Moon

the Moon's vital statistics

Diameter		3,476 km
Mass		7.35 x 10²² kg
Distance from Earth		384,400 km
Orbital time days		27.32 Earth days
Rotational period days		27.32 Earth days
Major moons		0

How does that compare with the planets in our solar system?

The Moon is 50% larger than Pluto and only 30% smaller than Mercury.

The satellites of Earth (the Moon) and Pluto (Charon) are much bigger when compared to their parent planet than any of the other satellites in the solar system. Because of this, Earth/Moon and Pluto/Charon are sometimes considered double-planet systems rather than the planet-satellite systems.

[Why does Moon rock taste better that Earth rock? - It's meteor!]

The Moon is the only object in the solar system, apart from Earth, to have been visited by humans.

Image of the Earths Moon

Humans (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin) first set foot on the surface of the Moon on July 20th 1969.

This footprint in the lunar dust was made by the first moon-walkers and, since the Moon has no atmosphere to erode features, it will probably remain visible for thousands of years. An historical landmark for future lunar package tour visitors.

Image on a foot print on the Moon



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