Get to know the moon
A quick bio about the earth's biggest fan.
Eclipses
There are two types of eclipses: Solar and Lunar, both occur as a result of the moon's orbit.
Solar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the earth and the sun, blocking out the light. Partial solar eclipses are more common than whole eclipses. Partial is when the moon only covers a part of the sun, and whole is, well you guess it, when it covers it all. Even on whole solar eclipses, there is still a ring of sunlight left around the moon. It is never safe to look at the sun during any solar eclipses. There are special glasses you can wear if you want to view a solar eclipse. Never risk it! :)
Solar Eclipses
A solar eclipse occurs when the moon moves between the earth and the sun, blocking out the light. Partial solar eclipses are more common than whole eclipses. Partial is when the moon only covers a part of the sun, and whole is, well you guess it, when it covers it all. Even on whole solar eclipses, there is still a ring of sunlight left around the moon. It is never safe to look at the sun during any solar eclipses. There are special glasses you can wear if you want to view a solar eclipse. Never risk it! :)
Lunar eclipses
Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into the earth's shadow, and it will only happen on a full moon, however not every full moon. If it is a lunar eclipse you will see the earth's shadow on the moon, and it will glow a kind of red colour.
Lunar eclipses occur when the moon passes into the earth's shadow, and it will only happen on a full moon, however not every full moon. If it is a lunar eclipse you will see the earth's shadow on the moon, and it will glow a kind of red colour.
The moon's role in the cause of tides on earth.
Tides on Earth occur because of gravitational pull. The force of gravity towards an object depends on the mass and distance. The way tides work is that the gravity from the moon and the sun, they pull the oceans on earth, however the gravity is not strong enough to pull them off completely. Although the sun has more mass than the moon, the sun is further away than the moon and so it's affect on earth's tides is less. Since the Earth rotates on its axis, the oceans bulge at the equator. There are high tides and low tides. The difference in tides is classified into two types of tides: Spring tides and Neap tides. Spring tides happen when the difference between high and low tides is the highest, and they occur when there is a full or new moon, since then the moon is directly in line with the sun making the gravitational pull stronger. Neap tides happen when the difference between high and low tides is the lowest, and they occur when there is a first and third quarter moon, since the pulls contradict themselves. In every day there are 2 high and 2 low tides, because at first there's a low and a high tide and then as the planet turns they move as well.
Moon Phases
The revolution of the moon around the earth makes it seem like it changes shape. From earth, the moon seems to shrink to a tiny crescent and to grow larger and whole. However, the moon is not really changing shape. The moon is simply reflecting the sun's rays differently depending on where the moon is. The amount of moon we can see changes everyday. There are 8 main phases of the moon, all in the order in which they occur/ the amount of moon we can see.
When the moon phases are waxing that means those are the phases from a new moon to a full one, so in other words, the moon is getting "bigger" (but not really, as it's always the same size, just how lit up it is). When the moon phases are waning that means those are the phases from a full moon till a new moon, so basically, it's getting "smaller".
Why we only see one side of the moon:
Only one side of the Moon is visible from Earth because as the Moon rotates about its own axis -much like the earth- it orbits the Earth at the same time, so it's synchronised, meaning that only one side is ever visible.
Animation!
This animation is also on the Earth and Sun page, so it has information about the Earth and Sun as well! Enjoy!
References for this page:
Col, J., 2000. Moon's rotation. [Online]
Available at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/moon/Moononeside.shtml
[Accessed 27 August 2015].
EVERGREEN, G. L. M. J., 2015. Science Quest 7. 1st ed. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Nave, R., 2015. Tides. [Online]
Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tide.html
[Accessed 27 August 2015].
Spacefacts.com, 2015. The moon. [Online]
Available at: http://space-facts.com/the-moon/
[Accessed 27 August 2015].
Available at: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/astronomy/moon/Moononeside.shtml
[Accessed 27 August 2015].
EVERGREEN, G. L. M. J., 2015. Science Quest 7. 1st ed. Milton: John Wiley & Sons Australia.
Nave, R., 2015. Tides. [Online]
Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/tide.html
[Accessed 27 August 2015].
Spacefacts.com, 2015. The moon. [Online]
Available at: http://space-facts.com/the-moon/
[Accessed 27 August 2015].