The Moon	Moon Data
	Diameter	3476 km
The Moon is planet Earth's natural satellite.	Average distance form Earth	384.400 km.
	Mass	0.012 Earth's Mass
The Moon is a barren ball of rock about one quarter the diameter of the Earth.	Time taken to Orbit the Earth	27.33 days
	Time taken to spin on Axis	27.33 days
It has no atmosphere, no liquid water and no life.	Time between new Moons	29.53 days
Dark and Bright Areas of the Moon
When looked at you can see dark and bright areas.
The dark regions formed when molten rock welled up into great basing on the surface thousands of millione of years ago. They were named maria (Latin for Seas" on early maps of the Moon, but they are really rocky plains. The first astronauts to land touched down on the Sea of Tranquility.
The lighter areas of the Moon's surface are mountainous highland areas.
Craters of the Moon
The moon is littered with craters. They were gouged out by rocks crashing down from space. Most were made soon after the Moon formed. Larger rocks called asteroids produced the basins which later became the "seas". There are fewer craters on the "sea" areas than in the highlands.
Crater sizes range from a few centimetres up to about 100 kilometres. A few even wides. The largest crater is called Bailly and is 295 kilometres across.
Distance from Earth
The moon orbits the Earth at a distance of about 385.000 kilometres.
The Moon's gravity is less than a fifth of the Earth', but because it is so close, its gravitational pull is the main cause of the Earth's tides.
Tje moon takes the same time to orbit the Earth as it does to spin once on its axis. The means the same side of the Moon, known as its near side, always faces the Earth. Spacecraft have returned images of the Moon's dark side. It has many craters but far fewer sea areas.