Written by Naman Anil Kumar, a grade 8 student.

Today is a rare, total lunar eclipse (May 26th). This eclipse is named as supermoon as the moon is big compared to the moon of other eclipses.

This one is special because the Supermoon, a red Blood Moon, and a lunar eclipse will all take place together!

Now, here are some facts about the moon

• The Moon is the fifth largest moon in the solar system (there are 200 more)
• The Moon helps moderate the earth’s climate.
• It’s about 385,000 km away from the earth.
• The Moon’s atmosphere is called an exosphere.
• From the earth, we always see the same side of the Moon. If you want to see the other side, you have to go into space.

How big is the moon?

The moon looks small from where we are, but in reality, it is quite big. Its radius is about 1,738 kilometers.

How many days does the moon take to complete one whole revolution?

The moon takes only about 27 days to go around the earth.

What are the layers of the moon?

The Crust: The outermost layer of the moon. It is the layer that we can see and land on. The far side is the thickest side of the crust. The crust of the far side is 100 km thick whereas the crust of the near side is 70 km thick.

Maria: The second layer of the moon. This layer is divided into two parts which are upper Maria and lower Maria. They are present more on the near side as the crust on the near side is thinner.

Small core: The third and the last layer of the moon. It is about 300 km thick. The small core is built of solid Iron. As the small core is solid, the moon does not have its own magnetic field

How did the moon get its name?

The Latin words metri and mensis join to form the word Mona. Metri means to measure and mensis means to measure month. Mona means measuring months. This name came to the moon as people in earlier times used the moon to measure months by seeing its faces.

What is Galileo’s discovery about moons?

In earlier times, people taught there is only one moon in the whole space. All these beliefs changed in 1610 when Galileo Galilei discovered the four largest moons which were of Jupiter planet.  

How does the moon glow?

The Moon does have any light of its own. It simply reflects the light coming from the Sun.

What is the Super Moon?

When a full moon reaches the point closest to the Earth on its elliptical orbit it is called a Supermoon. At this time it looks bigger than usual.

Read: Why does the moon look bigger sometimes

What is a Blood Moon?

A Blood Moon takes place when the colour of the moon is almost blood-red. This happens as the moon comes in a line with the Sun and the Earth, and comes completely under the Earth’s shadow. The light that is refracted through the Earth’s atmosphere has a reddish tint. It looks even richer red if there are clouds and dust in the Earth’s atmosphere.

There are three types of lunar eclipses – total, partial and penumbral

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Also Read: Fun Facts About Solar Systems

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