Why does the moon change shape ?

The Moon is a large ball of rock that doesn't change shape - it just looks as though it does. The shape we see in the Sky today depends on how much of the Moon of the Moon's face is lit up. Sometimes we observe a thin crescent, and at other times we see half or three quarters of the Moon, and then a fully lit face- a Full Moon.

• Lunar cycle

The view we have of the Moon changes according to the relative positions of the Sun, Earth, and the  Moon. A complete cycle of shapes, known as phases, takes 29.5 days.

New Moon

Crescent

First quarter 

Waxing gibbous 

Full Moon

Waning gibbous

Last quarter

Crescent

• How the Moon was formed

Most astronomers think that the Moon was formed out of the Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. It is known as the giant impact theory.

A Mars-sized asteroid collides into the earth at a speed of 20 km per second (12 miles per second).

Smashed asteroid pieces and material gouged out of earth Earth,s rocky mantle form a ring around the Earth.

Over several million years, the pieces of orbiting material bump into each other and join together.

They form one large body- the Moon, About a quarter the size of Earth, it slowly moves out to its present orbit.

• Facts

1. The pull of Earh,s gravity keeps the  Moon in orbit.
2. The Moon's surface the gravity is about one sixth of Earth,s.
3. The Moon's gravity pulls on earth's ocean to produce tides.
4. The far side of the Moon we don't see was first imaged in 1959 by soviet spacecraft, Luna 3.
5. The Moon reflects light like a very dirty  mirror. Although the full ,moon looks bright, it is 400,000 times dimmer than the Sun.
6. The Moon is 400 times smaller than the Sun, but asit is 400 times closer they look the same size.
7. The Moon's Surface temperature changes every moon day from hotter than boiling water to colder than liquid air.

Source- DK Ask me anything 

Images source -Google images

Thank you

Mandeep Buttar

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