Our Solar System
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14. The Earth-Moon system

Figure 10.31 The Earth from the Moon
Earth's Moon is the only place beyond Earth where humans have set foot, so far.


The brightest and largest object in our night sky, the Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable climate.
It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guided humans for thousands of years.

The Moon was likely formed after a Mars-sized body collided with the Earth.

The Earth's Moon is the fifth largest of the 200+ moons orbiting planets in our solar system.

Earth's only natural satellite is simply called "the Moon" because people didn't know other moons existed until Galileo Galilei discovered four moons orbiting Jupiter in 1610.

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It goes around the Earth at a distance of about 385.000 kilometers.

The Moon has a solid, rocky surface cratered and pitted from impacts by asteroids, meteorites, and comets.

The Moon has a very thin and tenuous atmosphere called an exosphere. It is not breathable.

The Moon's weak atmosphere and its lack of liquid water cannot support life as we know it.

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