07. How long is the Moon? (A K2S Question)

From The Space Library

The Moon actually has three lengths, and its shape is technically known as a triaxial ellipsoid. As you look at the Moon, there is an axis that runs straight through it at the center pointing towards Earth (the longest one), one that goes straight left/right (horizontal), and one that goes straight up and down (vertical). They're not quite at right angles to each other, but very close. The differences in the lengths of these three axes give the Moon a sort of egg shape (but not very much), with the fat end pointing to Earth, and its width being a bit more than its height. We don't have adequate maps yet of the Moon to have an exact number for the diameters noted above, but on average the diameter of the Moon is about ~ 2,160 miles. http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/moon_worldbook.html (See CDROM)

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Answer provided by Thomas Matula, Ph.D. & Kenneth J. Murphy

Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer

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