Earth and Moon

Moon Facts
The Moon is our nearest neighbour in space.
When we look at the Moon from Earth, we always see the same side. Until luna3 sent back photos in 1959, no-one knew what the other side looked like. The Moon is nearly twice as big as the planet Pluto.The "Man in the Moon" isn't always seen as a man. People from India see an old woman with a spinning wheel. People from Mexico see a rabbit!
The Moon is not that small compared to the Earth. Sometimes the Earth and Moon together are called a binary or double planet system.

How big is the moon?

Comparison of the size of the Moon and the Earth

Most of the planets in the Solar System are much bigger than their moons, but the Earth and the Moon are much closer in size. The Moon is just under 3,500 kilometers (km) wide and the Earth is about 12,600 (km). That's only about one third of the size of the Earth as you can see in the picture below. Because of this, the Earth and Moon together are sometimes called a binary or double planet system.