The Moon

space · astronomy · Earth's neighbor

Our closest neighbor. The Moon orbits Earth at an average distance of about 384,399 kilometers (238,854 miles), which is roughly 30 times as wide as Earth itself.

One side always faces us. The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, meaning it rotates at exactly the right speed so we always see the same side of it from down here.

It pulls our oceans. The Moon's gravity creates tidal forces that are the main reason Earth's oceans rise and fall twice every day.

A month-long orbit. It takes the Moon about 29.5 days to complete one full orbit around Earth while the Sun and Earth move too.

Held by gravity. Earth and the Moon are bound together by gravitational attraction that is strongest on the sides of each body facing the other.