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WHAT IS THE MOON?
The Moon is a large natural object that orbits, or travels around the Earth. It makes Earth more livable by lessening our home planet's wobble on its axis, which leads to a relatively stable climate, and is the closest celestial body to Earth that shines at night by reflecting light from the Sun. The Moon is also Earth's natural satellite that rotates exactly once each time it orbits our planet, or every 29 1/2 days. The Moon has a gravitational pull that is extremely important as it affects the Earth in many ways, including: climate, day length, seasons, animal navigation, it’s distance from the Earth, moon phases, and tides which create a rhythm that have guided humans for thousands of years. Ten fun facts about the moon are: (1) The moon probably formed in a giant collision around 4.6 billion years ago, (2) the moon's phases depend on its position, (3) the "dark" side of the moon is not actually dark, (4) the moon produces and changes the tides, (5) earth's gravity also affects the moon, (6) the moon is slowly moving away from us, (7) the moon has "moonquakes” (a tremor of the moon's surface), (8) solar eclipses are cosmic coincidences, (9) the moon's appearance can be affected by “earthshine” (sunlight reflected by the earth that illuminates the dark part of the moon), and (10) the moon has a unique smell described as metallic.