Although the reflectance of the lunar surface is low (comparable to that of asphalt), its large angular diameter makes the full moon the brightest celestial object in the night sky. Most of the large impact basins and mare surfaces were in place by the end of the Imbrian period, some three billion years ago. The near side of the Moon is marked by dark volcanic maria ("seas"), which fill the spaces between bright ancient crustal highlands and prominent impact craters. It receded to a wider orbit because of tidal interaction with the Earth. The most widely accepted origin explanation posits that the Moon formed 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth's formation, out of the debris from a giant impact between Earth and a hypothesized Mars-sized body called Theia. Due to cyclical shifts in perspective ( libration), 59% of the lunar surface is visible from Earth. The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, which means that the length of a full rotation of the Moon on its own axis causes its same side ( the near side) to always face Earth, and the somewhat longer lunar day is the same as the synodic period. During each synodic period of 29.5 days, the amount of the Moon's Earth-facing surface that is illuminated by the Sun varies from none up to nearly 100%, resulting in lunar phases that form the basis for the months of a lunar calendar. The Moon's orbit around Earth has a sidereal period of 27.3 days. Its gravitational influence is the main driver of Earth's tides and very slowly lengthens Earth's day. The Moon orbits Earth at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), or about 30 times Earth's diameter. Its surface gravity is about one-sixth of Earth's at 0.1654 g- Jupiter's moon Io is the only satellite in the Solar System known to have a higher surface gravity and density. It lacks any significant atmosphere, hydrosphere, or magnetic field. The Moon is a planetary-mass object with a differentiated rocky body, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term. It is larger than all known dwarf planets in the Solar System. Its diameter is about one-quarter of Earth's (comparable to the width of Australia), making it the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet. The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.
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