A6 Moon Report
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College of Southern Maryland *
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Course
1010
Subject
Geography
Date
Dec 6, 2023
Type
docx
Pages
6
Uploaded by LieutenantFireWolf10
Name: Dasol Lee
GNumber: G01256855
Getting to Know the Moon
In this lab exercise you will perform several activities that will help you get to know the Moon.
Activity 1: Moon data
Based on the pre-lab reading, create a “profile” of the moon. Choose five distinct properties or features of
the moon that will allow you to describe the moon to your friends (e. g. size, distance from earth etc.)
Explain why you chose each feature.
ANSWER: size, craters, its orbital period (27 days), Maria, and its color
I chose those 5 features because of the fact that with all those combined it would be really
easy to describe a Moon to someone without necessarily saying it’s a moon. The moons size is very
distinct due to not many planets being as small. Its craters, because Moon has many craters and
Maria’s that make it distinct. Orbital period because after the reading you would know that it
takes the moon an average of 27 days to complete a full cycle and last but not least the color
because it is one of the most obvious features of the Moon.
Activity 2: Moon Phases
In this activity you will explore the phases of the moon.
1.
How long does it take the moon to complete one cycle of phases, in days?
ANSWER: 27 days
2.
If the moon is full today, what phase do you expect it to be at in a week?
ANSWER: Waning gibbous phase
3.
How about one month later?
ANSWER: Return to being full again. (Full Moon phase)
4.
The following sketches of the moon's appearance were made over about four weeks. Identify the
phases and put them in the correct numerical order.
One is labeled for you.
There are two waning crescents and the way this question was put was very weird.
Picture
Order
Phase
Picture
Order
Phase
1
A
3
Waning crescent
D
2
Last quarter
B
1
waning gibbous
E
5
Waxing gibbous
C
6
Full Moon
F
4
Waning crescent
5.
From the perspective of an observer above the North Pole, the moon moves
clockwise or counter-
clockwise
in its orbit around the earth.
ANSWER: counter-clockwise
6.
In the diagram below the sun's light is coming in from the right. The moon's location is marked at
several points on its orbit. These are the points the moon was at when the sketches above were
drawn. Identify each position with the letter of the corresponding sketch. (Use the insert textbox
feature in MS Word to put the letter in the correct place)
Activity 3: Surface features – an observing activity
2
Waning crescent moon
Last quarter moon
Waning gibbous moon
Full moon
Waxing gibbous moon
First quarter moon
On a night that you get the best viewing conditions take a good look at
the Moon
.
If the weather is bad or you can’t see the Moon, just go to
the last page of this handout and mark the surface features you can
identify.
The picture represents the Moon as you can see it on May 26,
2021.
Describe
the
surface
features
that
you
can
see and mark them on the map.
Do you see the
bright highlands? The Maria (large circular features that are dark)?
Based
on
your
observations fill in the table and
mark
the
features
you’ve
observed
Table 1
A quick look at the Moon in the night sky – even without binoculars - shows light areas and
dark
areas. Can you find these features? Use the Moon map (below) to help!
Some of these features are too small to see with a naked eye you will need binoculars or a
telescope to see them. It’s OK if you have no access to either, try the best you can to see what
can be seen and mark the features you saw on the map.
No
I have seen it!
Sea of Tranquility
(Mare Tanquilitatus) – Formed when a giant
asteroid hit the Moon almost 4 billion years ago, this 500-mile wide
dark, smooth, circular basin is the site of the Apollo 11 landing in
1969.
No
I have seen it!
Sea of Rains
(Mare Imbrium) – Imbrium Basin is the largest basin on
the Moon that was formed by a giant asteroid almost 4 billion years
ago.
No
I have seen it!
Appenine Mountains
(Montes Apenninus) – Did you know there are
mountain ranges
on the Moon? The rims of the craters and
basins rise high above the Moon’s surface. Apollo 15 astronauts
worked in the shadow of Mons (Mount) Hadley, one of the peaks of
the Montes Apenninus. Mons Hadley is over 2 and a half miles high!
No
I have seen it!
Copernicus Crater
– A small, bright circle south of Imbrium Basin,
with rays spreading up to 500 miles in all directions, marks
Copernicus Crater.
No
I have seen it!
Sea of Serenity
(Mare Serenitatis) – Apollo 17 astronauts sampled
some of the oldest rocks on the Moon from edges of the Sea of
Serenity. These ancient rocks formed in the Moon’s magma ocean.
3
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