The moon is the constant companion of the Earth as it is the only natural satellite of the Earth. It’s been circling our planet for billions of years, long before the first signs of life appeared in the oceans—far before Earth was cold enough to support oceans.
Our home planet Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only location where life exists. Earth is the only planet in our solar system containing liquid water on its surface, despite being just the fifth biggest planet in the system.
About Earth
Earth is a rocky, terrestrial planet (made up of silicate rocks and metals). It has mountains, valleys, plains, and a variety of other features. Earth is different from other planets because it contains the oceans, and those oceans cover almost 70% part of the Earth. Let’s know more about its characteristics.
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Atmosphere: Earth’s atmosphere contains a mixture of gases that helps humans to breathe. The atmosphere also protects us from approaching meteoroids, which can break up in our atmosphere before hitting the ground as meteorites. This is one of the important features of the Earth for sustaining life.
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Surface and Structure: The planet Earth is a terrestrial planet i.e, it is made up of silicate rocks and metals. It’s a little, rocky island. The Earth’s atmosphere has just the correct thickness to keep the planet warm enough for living organisms like ourselves to exist.
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Time on Earth: On Earth, a day lasts a little over 24 hours. A year on our planet is 365.25 days long. That 0.25 difference implies we’ll have to add one day to our calendar every four years. It’s known as a leap day in a leap year.
About Moon
The Moon is the Solar System’s fifth biggest satellite and the second brightest object in the sky after the Sun.
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Some features of the moon are explained below
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Moon Structure: It has a crust, mantle, and core that are all geochemically unique. The core of the Moon has a solid iron-rich inner core with a radius of around 240 kilometres and a fluid outer core with a radius of about 300 kilometres.
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Moon Temperature: The temperature on the moon’s surface area may reach 260 degrees Fahrenheit (127 degrees Celsius) when sunlight strikes it. Temperatures may drop to – 280 F after the sun sets (minus 173 C).
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Types of Moon Colours: Basically there are five types of moon colours and these are the blue moon, pink moon, red moon, yellow moon and orange moon.
Solved Questions
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How big is the Moon’s surface area in comparison to Earth’s?
Ans: The Moon’s surface area is 37.9 million square kilometres. That may appear to be a large area, but it is really less than Asia’s continent, which is just 44.4 million square kilometres. The total surface area of the Earth is 510 million square kilometres, hence the area of the Moon in comparison to the Earth is just 7.4 per cent.
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Compare the Earth vs moon size.
Ans: The moon is somewhat bigger than one-quarter (27%) of Earth’s size, a far greater ratio (1:4) than any other planet and moon. Earth’s moon is the sixth largest in the solar system.
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What is the view of the moon from Earth?
Ans: The Moon’s surface appears black from Earth because the lit side is facing away from us. As our Moon continues its counterclockwise orbit around Earth (as seen from the North Pole), we see more and more of the lighted section of the Moon until it reaches the “full Moon” stage.
Fun Facts
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Do you know? Melting glaciers have an effect on the form of the Earth.
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Do you know? The Moon’s existence helps in the stabilisation and regulation of the climate of the Earth.
Summary
In this article, we have talked about the characteristics of Earth and the moon and the various characteristics associated with them. We have also mentioned the view of the moon from Earth and moon temperature.
We have talked about the shape and size of both and also mentioned some features like the moon is the only natural satellite of Earth and Earth’s atmosphere contains such a mixture of gases that make life possible on this planet.
Learning By Doing
Observe the night sky on a regular basis to examine the varying shapes of the moon and think of the reason behind the moon’s shifting shape.