The Moon

The Moon is a satellite* of the Earth. (A moon is a satellite of a planet exactly as a planet is a satellite of the Sun.)

The Moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 384,000 kilometres. It orbits Earth in 29½ days. This is the reason for the month.

The Moon is 81 times smaller than the Earth by volume. It is made of rock and has no atmosphere.

Illustrated above is the relative distance between (and relative sizes of) the Earth and Moon.

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