'The moon is about the same age as the earth, about 4.6 billion years old. The "giant impact" theory says that a planet larger than Mars struck the earth. Most of the other planet and a large part of earth vaporized. Debris from the great explosion circled the earth and eventually coalesced into the moon.
Maybe before the moon formed, earth had rings like Saturn does today!
The moon is covered with impact craters.
The moon's surface shows striking contrasts of light and dark. The light areas are rugged highlands. The dark zones were partly flooded by lava when volcanoes erupted billions of years ago. The craters appear dark because sometime after they were formed, the basins were flooded with lava. That means that the craters were formed a long time ago, when the moon still had a liquid core.
So human beings did not see the far side of the moon until the first pictures were sent back from an unmanned probe in 1959.
The far side of the moon is has many more craters than we see on the "earth side". One theory is that there was less lava flow to cover the craters on the far side of the moon. There was more lava flow on the near side of the moon because earth's gravity pulled the molten core off center. Learn more about this theory at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40135552/ns/technology_and_science-space/
Of course the obvious reason why there are fewer craters on the near side of the moon is that the near side of the moon received some shielding from the earth.
Maybe before the moon formed, earth had rings like Saturn does today!
The moon is covered with impact craters.
The moon's surface shows striking contrasts of light and dark. The light areas are rugged highlands. The dark zones were partly flooded by lava when volcanoes erupted billions of years ago. The craters appear dark because sometime after they were formed, the basins were flooded with lava. That means that the craters were formed a long time ago, when the moon still had a liquid core.
The Far Side
The earth has about 80 times more mass than the moon. The pull of the earth's gravity has slowed down the rotation of the moon, so that the same side of the moon always faces the earth.So human beings did not see the far side of the moon until the first pictures were sent back from an unmanned probe in 1959.
The far side of the moon is has many more craters than we see on the "earth side". One theory is that there was less lava flow to cover the craters on the far side of the moon. There was more lava flow on the near side of the moon because earth's gravity pulled the molten core off center. Learn more about this theory at: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40135552/ns/technology_and_science-space/
Of course the obvious reason why there are fewer craters on the near side of the moon is that the near side of the moon received some shielding from the earth.
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