Our Moon is a sub-planet of the Earth. It appears as a beautiful celestial body. It is situated at a distance of 385,000 km from the Earth. The moon is about a quarter of the Earth's size and one eightieth of its mass. Its gravity being one-sixth of the Earth's was unable to retain its atmosphere.
The temperature at the centre of the Moon is about 1000oC compared with 4500oC for the Earth. The moon spins on its axis once a month. Most parts of its surface are heated and illuminated for about 15 days and in cold darkness for the next 15. Its temperature ranges from 110oC in sunlight to -170oC in the darkness.
The Moon consists of whitish area (high lands) and blackish areas (craters). Mountains are not produced by mountain processes but are simply debris encircling craters. The largest crater is called Mare Imbrium with a diameter of 1250 km. There are a large number of volcanoes. The surface features of the Moon is ascribed to impact of meteors from outside the Moon and vulcanicity induced by the melting of its interior.
Neil Armstrong, an American astronaut set foot on moon on 21st July, 1969. Its soil was brought to Earth and studied. It has been discovered that the Moon was born 4.6 billion years ago, making it almost as old as the Earth.
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