What are the different types of moons?

There are a few different types of unusual full moon types, which include blood moons, supermoons, blue moons, and harvest moons, and others. When you look up at the night sky, you might notice that the Moon looks a little different each night. This is due to our Moon's many phases and types.

How are moons named?

Moons are named depending on their parent planet. Generally, they are characters from Greek mythology that are related in some way to the equivalent of the Roman god their planet is named after. But there are a few exceptions with Uranus being the most unique.

How many moons are in our solar system?

There are currently 181 known moons in our solar system orbiting the various planets and dwarf planets. Of the 13 planets and dwarf planets, there are four which don't have any moons. These are the planets Mercury and Venus, and the dwarf planets Ceres and Makemake.

How long does it take the moon to orbit the Earth?

The Moon makes a complete orbit around Earth in 27 Earth days and rotates or spins at that same rate, or in that same amount of time. Because Earth is moving as well – rotating on its axis as it orbits the Sun – from our perspective, the Moon appears to orbit us every 29 days. Earth's Moon has a core, mantle, and crust.