The moon is about 250,000 miles from earth.  It was actually part of Earth 4.5 billion years ago.  During the formation of the planets when the Earth was all molten rock and still cooling, Earth was struck by an asteroid, perhaps the size of Mars.  A large amount of Earth's molten material was ejected into space.  The molten material stayed in orbit around the Earth and over many years coalesced (came together as a whole) to become what we see today.

Ancient Civilizations & the Moon

Many ancient civilizations studied the moon from earth. The Sumerians studied the moon and created the first calendar. The Romans, Chinese, Egyptians, and Greeks all created a calendar based on the moon as well.  The word month (which we know is the approximate orbital period of the moon around the Earth) came from the Germanic word moonth. 

                            Ancient Aztec Calendar                  Ancient Egyptian Calendar

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Looking At The Moon From Earth

We know that the Moon cannot produce its own light.  The light we see on its surface is reflected light from the Sun.  We can see different lighted portions of the Moon from Earth because the Moon is always revolving around the Earth and we see the Moon at different angles from the surface.  The phases (portions of the Moon we see lighted) repeat themselves every month (actually every 29.5 days).  There are eight (8) moon phases.

The Earth & Moon Observed From Space:

The Moon Phases:

1. New Moon                     6.Waning Gibbous

2. Waxing Crescent            7. Last Quarter

3. First Quarter                  8. Waning Crescent

4. Waxing Gibbous                   

5. Full Moon

Tides & The Moon's Affect  On Earth

Because the Moon has mass it has a gravitational pull on Earth.  Earth is mostly water    (about 70%).  Because gravity is an attractive force, the Moon pulls on the Earth's oceans      (literally trying to pull them off of the planet).  The reason why the oceans are not pulled off of the planet is because Earth has gravity too. Since the Earth is bigger than the Moon, the Earth wins the tug of war and the oceans stay put.  This pulling creates tides on Earth. Tides are the rise and fall of Earth's oceans every six (6) hours.

The Moon's Affect On The Oceans (Tides):

                    View from Space                                      View on Earth--Notice the Rise & Fall of The Oceans

   This Simulates How Gravity Pulls on the Earth Oceans

More on Tides:

*There are two (2) high tides and two (2) low tides every day. 

*Spring Tides--Twice a month during a full and new moon the high tides are higher than normal. These special tides are called spring tides.

* Neap Tides-- Twice a month during quarter moon (first & last) the tides are especially weaker than normal.  These special tides are called neap tides.