is in 
synchronous rotation 

always showing the same face
with its near side marked
by dark volcanic maria 
that fill between
the bright ancient crustal
highlands and the prominent 
impact craters.

is the second-brightest
regularly visible celestial
object

its surface is actually dark,
with a reflectance 
slightly higher
than worn asphalt.

Its prominence in the sky

an important cultural
influence

produces the ocean tides, 
body tides, and the slight
lengthening of the day.

is
thirty times the diameter of Earth,
causing it to have
an apparent size in the sky
almost the same as that of the Sun.

 

This matching of apparent
visual size is a coincidence.