Have you ever heard any of these sayings before?

• The Moon is made of cheese
• The man in the Moon
• The rabbit in the Moon

These sayings all came about because of the Moon’s craters! When you look at the Moon you can see dark and light spots on the moon caused by the depth of all the different craters on the lunar surface. Craters are made when another object, like an asteroid or meteorite, collides with the moon creating a deep hole in the surface. The bigger or faster moving the object is, the bigger or deeper the hole that it makes when it hits. We can see what happens when a crater is made by doing this simple demonstration.

Supplies:

• Tray or shallow bowl (a pie plate is perfect)
• Sand
• Rocks of various sizes
• Spray bottle with water
• Food coloring

Steps:

1. Fill the tray with sand so it comes up almost to the top.
2. Add food coloring to the spray bottle (10-15 drops).
3. Spray the sand so it’s covered by the colored water on the top layer (avoid soaking the sand). Let the color dry a bit so the sand is not clumpy.
4. Drop the rocks from different heights and observe the different impact craters they make!

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After making your own craters, take some time to go outside tonight and see what craters you can see on the moon. Tonight is International Observe the Moon Night!

For more moon activities join NASA Planetary Missions Program as they host a Facebook Live event here.