Earth's natural satellite - the Moon

• Orbiting many of the planets are  natural satellites, called moons

• Our Earth has one moon. 

• It moves in an orbit round the Earth.

• It is held in this orbit by the pull of  Earth's Gravity.

• It goes around the Earth in an anti-clockwise direction. 

• The Earth also spins in an anti-clockwise direction at the same time from west to east.

• It takes one lunar month (28 days) to complete one orbit of the Earth.

• The Moon is a dead object. 

• It has no light of its own. 

• As it goes around the Earth we see the moon surface reflecting the Sun's light. 

• It looks different at different times of the month, changes its shape. 

• It has phases.  The phases are about 4 days apart.  See animation and diagram below.  

What is it like on the Moon- click here?

Continue... Gravity