What is the Moon ?
- A Natural Sattelite
- One of more than 96 Moons in our System Solar
- The only Moon of the Planet Earth
Where is the Moon ?
- About 384 000 km ( 240 000 miles) from Earth
- 3,468 km (2,155 miles) in diameter (about 1/4 the size of Earth)
What about Moon's surface ?
- No Atmosphere
- No Liquid Water
- Extreme Temperatures:
- Daytime = 130°C
- Nightime = 190°C
- 1/6 Earth's Gravity ( So on the Moon we are 6 times lighter then on the Earth )
The Moon's orbit
This is how the lunar systems work (example: The Moon and the Earth)
Who is Galileo Galilei ?
Date and Place of Birth : On the 15 of February 1584 in Italy (Pisa, Duchy of Florence)
Death : The 8th of January 1642 at the age of 77 in Arcetre Grand Duchy of Toscany, Italy.
Occupation : Astronomer, Physicist, Engineer, Philosopher and Mathematician.
Main Discoveries : - The telescopic confirmation of the phases of Venus
- The discovery of the four largest sattelites of Jupiter ( named the Gallian moons)
- Observation and analysis of Sunspots.
Special Facts : Galileo also worked in applied science and tecnology, inventing and improved milited compass and other instruments.
Events : June 21, 1633 - He is officially charged with heresy: he is forced to confess his errors, renounce the Copernican system and accept the Church's judgment. He is sentenced for imprisonment "for a period determinable at our pleasure".
Why are we talking about Galileo ?
When Galileo observed the Moon's Surface for the first time with his Telescope , he saw that in contradiction with the teaching of Aristote, the Moon didn't have a perfect smooth surface. The terminator ( the line who separate the dark side from the light side of the Moon) wasn't a right line. He observed some points of light in the dark side of the Moon and he thought that these points were peaks of some lunar mountains.
How to find the height of lunar mountains ?
This is how the Moon looks like with her protuberances: 