The Moon is not a star of planet but a satellite (an object in a trajectory around a heavenly body) and was formed somewhat later then the Earth. The Moon has a surface of ± 152 million km² (approximately 14 times smaller than Earth) and a diameter of ± 3476 km. The surface of the Moon is pocked with craters.

The Moon has a cycle of 29,5 days, in which the moon varies from New Moon to Half Moon (First Quarter) to Full Moon to Last Quarter to New Moon. In the period from New Moon to Full Moon the Moon is waxing. In the period from Full Moon to New Moon the Moon is waning of declining. The Moon's cycle is also known as a synodic month.

At Full Moon, when the Sun, Earth and Moon are precisely in line and the Moon stands in the shadow of the Earth, we speak of a lunar eclipse. Similarly, a solar eclipse comes about at New Moon, when the Sun, Earth and Moon are again in line and the Moon casts it's shadows on the Earth.

The Moon's gravity is one of the contributing factors towards the tidal motions of ebb (low tide) and flood (high tide). Both ebb and flood occur twice per day (with exception of some area's).

The Moon was first reached by a man-made object on September 14, 1959, when the unmanned Soviet probe Luna 2 crashed into the Moon . The first man to walk on the Moon was Neil Armstrong, commander of the American Apollo 11, on July 20,1969.

Source: Wikepedia