50 Fascinating Facts You Didn't Know About the Moon

40 Fascinating Facts You Didn’t Know About the Moon

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  1. The Moon is the fifth largest natural satellite in the solar system.
  2. The Moon is about one-quarter the size of Earth.
  3. The Moon is the only natural satellite of Earth.
  4. The Moon is about 238,855 miles away from Earth.
  5. The Moon’s diameter is approximately 3,476 kilometers (2,159 miles).
  6. The Moon’s gravity is about one-sixth of Earth’s gravity.
  7. The Moon’s surface is covered with craters, mountains, and flat plains called “maria.”
  8. The Moon has no atmosphere.
  9. The Moon’s temperature ranges from -173°C (-279°F) at night to 127°C (261°F) during the day.
  10. The Moon’s age is about 4.5 billion years old.
  11. The Moon was likely formed when a Mars-sized object collided with Earth.
  12. The Moon’s surface is covered with a layer of fine dust called “regolith.”
  13. The Moon has no magnetic field.
  14. The Moon’s phases are caused by its orbit around Earth.
  15. The Moon’s orbit is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse.
  16. The Moon’s distance from Earth varies due to its elliptical orbit.
  17. The Moon’s rotation is synchronized with its orbit around Earth, which means that the same side of the Moon always faces Earth.
  18. The Moon’s surface is bombarded by meteoroids, causing craters.
  19. The Moon has no liquid water on its surface.
  20. The Moon has no known life.
  21. The Moon’s largest impact crater, the South Pole-Aitken Basin, is about 2,500 km (1,550 mi) wide and 13 km (8 mi) deep.
  22. The Moon has no tectonic activity.
  23. The Moon has a weak “moonquakes” due to the gravitational pull of Earth.
  24. The Moon has a thin layer of helium-3, a rare isotope that may be useful for nuclear fusion.
  25. The Moon has been visited by humans six times during the Apollo program.
  26. The first humans to walk on the Moon were Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin on July 20, 1969.
  27. The last humans to walk on the Moon were Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt on December 14, 1972.
  28. The Moon has been photographed and studied extensively by robotic missions, including the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter.
  29. The Moon’s surface is constantly changing due to meteoroid impacts and other processes.
  30. The Moon’s gravitational pull affects tides on Earth.
  31. The Moon’s gravitational pull also affects the Earth’s rotation.
  32. The Moon’s crust is thicker on the far side than on the near side.
  33. The Moon’s surface is covered with rock and dust from Earth, brought there by meteoroid impacts and solar wind.
  34. The Moon has no atmosphere, but it has a “exosphere,” a thin layer of gas molecules.
  35. The Moon has a “twilight zone” near the terminator, the boundary between the illuminated and dark side of the Moon.
  36. The Moon’s gravity is responsible for the formation of the Earth’s tidal bulge.
  37. The Moon has a “lunar day” of about 29.5 Earth days.
  38. The Moon’s surface is covered with a layer of glass formed by meteoroid impacts.
  39. The Moon’s magnetic field is about 1/50,000th the strength of Earth’s magnetic field.
  40. The Moon has no weather or weathering processes.