The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. How did the Moon form? Scientists think it formed when a planetary object the size of Mars collided with Earth about 4.5 billion years ago. The Moon is covered with impact craters that formed when asteroids and comets crashed into its surface. The roughly circular dark regions called maria (Latin for "seas") are vast impact craters that filled with lava. The light-colored lunar highlands are heavily cratered. The combined gravity of the Moon and Sun cause Earth's ocean tides.

Captions:
Inside the Observatory
The moon is often featured during the Public Observatory's daytime and nighttime observing hours. Through our telescopes you can see lunar craters, mountains, and maria.

Viewing Our Solar System:
Center for Earth Planetary Studies
The Center for Earth and Planetary Studies (CEPS) is the National Air and Space Museum's planetary science research unit. CEPS scientists use radar systems on Earth and aboard spacecraft to study buried features on the Moon, map the surface of cloud-covered Venus, and probe the polar ice caps and volcanic deposits of Mars.

The Moon as seen from a Tele Vue-85 telescope at the Public Observatory on March 1, 2012.

CEPS scientists created this image of the Moon's Mare Imbrium
and Mare Serenitatis using radar data. The image reveals buried volcanic features invisible in surface images.
Bruce Campbell & Gareth Morgan, Smithsonian Institution; NASA; background, LOLA Team

This close-up view of the crater Aristarchus shows details of the crater wall and central peak. The image was taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

Caption of main image:
←This view of the Moon was created using data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
NASA/GSFC/Arizona State University

How to Learn More:
Visit CEPS at http://airandspace.si.edu/research/cfps

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