This article is about Earth's natural satellite. For moons in general, see Natural satellite.

For other uses, see Moon (disambiguation).

Moon

The near side of the Moon with its north at top as seen from Earth in October 2010

Designations

Designation
Earth I

Alternative names Luna

Selene (poetic)

Cynthia (poetic)

Adjectives Lunar

Selenian (poetic)

Cynthian (poetic)

Moonly (poetic)

Symbol or

Orbital characteristics

Epoch J2000

Perigee 362600 km

(356400–370400 km)

Apogee 405400 km
 (404000–406700 km)

Semi-major axis
384399 km (1.28 ls, 0.00257 AU)[1]

Eccentricity 0.0549[1]

Orbital period (sidereal) 27.321661 d

(27 d 7 h 43 min 11.5 s[1])

Orbital period (synodic) 29.530589 d

(29 d 12 h 44 min 2.9 s)

Average orbital speed

1.022 km/s

Inclination 5.145° to the ecliptic[2][a]

Longitude of Regressing by one revolution in 18.61 years

ascending node

Argument of perigee Progressing by one

revolution in 8.85 years

Satellite of Earth[b][3]

Physical characteristics

Mean radius
1737.4 km

(0.2727 of Earth's)[1][4][5]

Equatorial radius
1738.1 km

(0.2725 of Earth's)[4]

Polar radius
1736.0 km

(0.2731 of Earth's)[4]

Flattening 0.0012[4]

Circumference 10921 km (equatorial)

Surface area
3.793×107 km2

(0.074 of Earth's)

Volume 2.1958×1010 km3

(0.02 of Earth's)[4]

Mass 7.342×1022 kg

(0.0123 of Earth's)[1][4][6]

Mean density
3.344 g/cm3[1][4]

0.606 × Earth

Surface gravity
1.622 m/s2 {(0.1654 g; 5.318 ft/s2)[4]
Moment of inertia factor
0.3929±0.0009[7]

Escape velocity
2.38 km/s

(8600 km/h; 5300 mph)

Synodic rotation period 29.530589 d

(29 d 12 h 44 min 2.9 s; synodic; solar day) (spin-

orbit locked)

Sidereal rotation period

27.321661 d (spin-orbit locked)

Equatorial rotation velocity

4.627 m/s

Axial tilt 1.5424° to ecliptic[8]

6.687° to orbit plane[2]

24° to Earth's equator [9]

North pole right ascension 17h 47m 26s

266.86°[10]

North pole declination

65.64°[10]

Albedo 0.136[11]

Surface temp. min mean max

Equator 100 K[12] 250 K 390 K[12]

85°N 150 K 230 K[13]

Surface absorbed dose rate 13.2 μGy/h

(during lunar daytime)[14]

Surface equivalent dose rate 57.0 μSv/h

(during lunar daytime)[14]

Apparent magnitude −2.5 to −12.9[c]

−12.74 (mean full moon)[4]

Absolute magnitude (H)

0.2[15]

Angular diameter
29.3 to 34.1 arcminutes[4][d]

Atmosphere[16]

Surface pressure 10−7 Pa (1 picobar) (day)

10−10 Pa (1 femtobar)

(night)[e]

Composition by volume He

Ar
 Ne

Na

Rn

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times Earth's
diameter. The Moon always presents the same side to Earth, because gravitational pull has locked its rotation to the planet. This
results in the lunar day of 29.5 Earth days matching the lunar month. The Moon's gravitational pull – and to a lesser extent
the Sun's – are the main drivers of the tides.

The Moon is in geophysical terms a planetary-mass object or satellite planet. It has a mass that amounts to 1.2% of Earth's, and a
diameter that is roughly one-quarter of Earth's or with 3,474 km (2,159 mi) about as wide as Australia.[17] Within the Solar System it is
the most massive and largest satellite in relation to its parent planet, the fifth most massive and largest moon overall, and more
massive and larger than all known dwarf planets.[18] Its surface gravity is about one sixth of Earth's, about half of that of Mars, and
after Jupiter's moon Io the second highest among all Solar System moons. The body of the Moon is differentiated and terrestrial,
with no significant hydrosphere, atmosphere, or magnetic field. It 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.

The lunar surface is covered in lunar dust and marked by mountains, impact craters, their ejecta, ray-like streaks and, mostly on the
near side of the Moon, by dark maria ("seas"), which are plains of cooled magma. These maria were formed when molten lava
flowed into ancient impact basins. The Moon is, beside when passing through Earth's shadow during a lunar eclipse, always
illuminated by the Sun, but from Earth the visible illumination shifts during its orbit, producing the lunar phases.[19] The Moon is
the brightest celestial object in Earth's night sky. This is mainly due to its large angular diameter, while the reflectance of the lunar
surface is comparable to that of asphalt. The apparent size is nearly the same as that of the Sun, allowing it to cover the Sun almost
completely during a total solar eclipse. From Earth about 59% of the lunar surface is visible over time due to cyclical shifts in
perspective (libration), making parts of the far side of the Moon visible.

For humans the Moon has been an important source of inspiration and knowledge, having been crucial to cosmography,
mythology, religion, art, time keeping, natural science, and spaceflight. On September 13, 1959, the first human-made object
to reach an extraterrestrial body arrived on the Moon, the Soviet Union's Luna 2 impactor. In 1966, the Moon became the first
extraterrestrial body where soft landings and orbital insertions were achieved. On July 20, 1969, humans for the first time landed on
the Moon and any extraterrestrial body, at Mare Tranquillitatis with the lander Eagle of the United States' Apollo 11 mission. Five
more crews were sent between then and 1972, each with two men landing on the surface. The longest stay was 75 hours by
the Apollo 17 crew. Since then, exploration of the Moon has continued robotically with crewed missions being planned to
return beginning in the late 2020s.

Names and etymology

See also: Moon § Cultural representation
The usual English proper name for Earth's natural satellite is simply Moon, with a capital M.[20][21] The noun moon is derived from Old
English mōna, which (like all its Germanic cognates) stems from Proto-Germanic *mēnōn,[22] which in turn comes from Proto-Indo-
European *mēnsis "month"[23] (from earlier *mēnōt, genitive *mēneses) which may be related to the verb "measure" (of time).[24]

Occasionally, the name Luna /ˈluːnə/ is used in scientific writing[25] and especially in science fiction to distinguish the Earth's moon
from others, while in poetry "Luna" has been used to denote personification of the Moon.[26] Cynthia /ˈsɪnθiə/ is another poetic name,
though rare, for the Moon personified as a goddess,[27] while Selene /səˈliːniː/ (literally "Moon") is the Greek goddess of the Moon.

The English adjective pertaining to the Moon is "lunar", derived from the Latin word for the Moon, lūna. Selenian /səliːniən/[28] is an
adjective used to describe the Moon as a world, rather than as a celestial object,[29] but its use is rare. It is derived
from σελήνη selēnē, the Greek word for the Moon, and its cognate selenic was originally a rare synonym[30] but now nearly always
refers to the chemical element selenium.[31] The element name selenium and the prefix seleno- (as in selenography, the study of the
physical features of the Moon) come from this Greek word.[32][33]

The Greek goddess of the wilderness and the hunt, Artemis, equated with the Roman Diana, one of whose symbols was the Moon
and who was often regarded as the goddess of the Moon, was also called Cynthia, from her legendary birthplace on Mount
Cynthus.[34] These names – Luna, Cynthia and Selene – are reflected in technical terms for lunar orbits such
as apolune, pericynthion and selenocentric.

The astronomical symbol for the Moon is a crescent, , for example in M☾ 'lunar mass' (also ML).
Natural history
Lunar geologic timescale
Main article: Lunar geologic timescale

Millions of years before present

The lunar geological periods are named after their characteristic features, from most impact craters outside the dark mare, to the
mare and later craters, and finally the young, still bright and therefore readily visible craters with ray
systems like Copernicus or Tycho.

Formation
Main articles: Origin of the Moon, Giant-impact hypothesis, and Circumplanetary disk

The far side of the Moon, lacking the near side's characteristic
large dark areas of maria, resembling how the near side of the Moon might have looked early in
the Moon's history [35][36]

Isotope dating of lunar samples suggests the Moon formed around 50 million years after the origin of the Solar System.[37]
[38]
Historically, several formation mechanisms have been proposed,[39] but none satisfactorily explains the features of the Earth–Moon
system. A fission of the Moon from Earth's crust through centrifugal force[40] would require too great an initial rotation rate of Earth.
[41]
Gravitational capture of a pre-formed Moon[42] depends on an unfeasibly extended atmosphere of Earth to dissipate the energy of
the passing Moon.[41] A co-formation of Earth and the Moon together in the primordial accretion disk does not explain the depletion of
metals in the Moon.[41] None of these hypotheses can account for the high angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system.[43]

The prevailing theory is that the Earth–Moon system formed after a giant impact of a Mars-sized body (named Theia) with the proto-
Earth. The oblique impact blasted material into orbit about the Earth and the material accreted and formed the Moon[44][45] just beyond
the Earth's Roche limit of ~2.56 R🜨.[46]

Giant impacts are thought to have been common in the early Solar System. Computer simulations of giant impacts have produced
results that are consistent with the mass of the lunar core and the angular momentum of the Earth–Moon system. These simulations
show that most of the Moon derived from the impactor, rather than the proto-Earth.[47] However, models from 2007 and later suggest
a larger fraction of the Moon derived from the proto-Earth.[48][49][50][51] Other bodies of the inner Solar System such as Mars
and Vesta have, according to meteorites from them, very different oxygen and tungsten isotopic compositions compared to Earth.
However, Earth and the Moon have nearly identical isotopic compositions. The isotopic equalization of the Earth-Moon system might
be explained by the post-impact mixing of the vaporized material that formed the two,[52] although this is debated.[53]

The impact would have released enough energy to liquefy both the ejecta and the Earth's crust, forming a magma ocean. The
liquefied ejecta could have then re-accreted into the Earth–Moon system.[54][55] The newly formed Moon would have had its own
magma ocean; its depth is estimated from about 500 km (300 miles) to 1,737 km (1,079 miles).[54]

While the giant-impact theory explains many lines of evidence, some questions are still unresolved, most of which involve the
Moon's composition.[56] Models that have the Moon acquiring a significant amount of the proto-earth are more difficult to reconcile
with geochemical data for the isotopes of zirconium, oxygen, silicon, and other elements.[57] Above a high resolution threshold for
simulations,[clarify] a study published in 2022 finds that giant impacts can immediately place a satellite with similar mass and iron
content to the Moon into orbit far outside Earth's Roche limit. Even satellites that initially pass within the Roche limit can reliably and
predictably survive, by being partially stripped and then torqued onto wider, stable orbits.[58]

On 1 November 2023, scientists reported that, according to computer simulations, remnants of a protoplanet, named Theia, could
be inside the Earth, left over from a collision with the Earth in ancient times, and afterwards becoming the Moon.[59][60]

Natural development

Artist's depiction of the Moon as it might

have appeared in Earth's sky after the Late Heavy Bombardment around 4 billion years ago. At
that time the Moon orbited the Earth at half its current distance, making it appear 2.8 times larger
than it does today. [61]

The newly formed Moon settled into a much closer Earth orbit than it has today. Each body therefore appeared much larger in the
sky of the other, eclipses were more frequent, and tidal effects were stronger.[61] Due to tidal acceleration, the Moon's orbit around
Earth has become significantly larger, with a longer period.[62]

Following formation, the Moon has cooled and most of its atmosphere has been stripped.[63] The lunar surface has since been
shaped by large impact events and many small ones, forming a landscape featuring craters of all ages.

The Moon was volcanically active until 1.2 billion years ago, which laid down the prominent lunar maria. Most of the mare
basalts erupted during the Imbrian period, 3.3–3.7 billion years ago, though some are as young as 1.2 billion years[64] and some as
old as 4.2 billion years.[65] There are differing explanations for the eruption of mare basalts, particularly their uneven occurrence
which mainly appear on the near-side. Causes of the distribution of the lunar highlands on the far side are also not well understood.
Topological measurements show the near side crust is thinner than the far side. One possible scenario then is that large impacts on
the near side may have made it easier for lava to flow onto the surface.[66]

Physical characteristics
The Moon is a very slightly scalene ellipsoid due to tidal stretching, with its long axis displaced 30° from facing the Earth, due to
gravitational anomalies from impact basins. Its shape is more elongated than current tidal forces can account for. This 'fossil bulge'
indicates that the Moon solidified when it orbited at half its current distance to the Earth, and that it is now too cold for its shape to
restore hydrostatic equilibrium at its current orbital distance.[67]

Size and mass

Further information: List of natural satellites
 Size comparison of the main moons of the
Solar System with Earth to scale. Nineteen moons are large enough to be round, several
having subsurface oceans and one, Titan, having a considerable atmosphere.
The Moon is by size and mass the fifth largest natural satellite of the Solar System, categorizable as one of its planetary-mass
moons, making it a satellite planet under the geophysical definitions of the term.[18] It is smaller than Mercury and considerably larger
than the largest dwarf planet of the Solar System, Pluto. While the minor-planet moon Charon of the Pluto-Charon system is larger
relative to Pluto,[f][68] the Moon is the largest natural satellite of the Solar System relative to their primary planets.[g]

The Moon's diameter is about 3,500 km, more than a quarter of Earth's, with the face of the Moon comparable to the width of
either Australia,[17] Europe or the US without Alaska.[69] The whole surface area of the Moon is about 38 million square kilometers,
between the size of the Americas (North and South America) and Africa.

The Moon's mass is 1/81 of Earth's,[70] being the second densest among the planetary moons, and having the second
highest surface gravity, after Io, at 0.1654 g and an escape velocity of 2.38 km/s (8600 km/h; 5300 mph).

Structure
Main articles: Internal structure of the Moon and Geology of the Moon

Moon's internal structure: solid inner core

(iron-metallic), molten outer core, hardened mantle and crust. The crust on the Moon's near side
permanently facing Earth is thinner, featuring larger areas flooded by material of the once molten
mantle forming today's lunar mare.
The Moon is a differentiated body that was initially in hydrostatic equilibrium but has since departed from this condition.[71] It has
a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and core. The Moon has a solid iron-rich inner core with a radius possibly as small as 240
kilometres (150 mi) and a fluid outer core primarily made of liquid iron with a radius of roughly 300 kilometres (190 mi). Around the
core is a partially molten boundary layer with a radius of about 500 kilometres (310 mi).[72][73] This structure is thought to have
developed through the fractional crystallization of a global magma ocean shortly after the Moon's formation 4.5 billion years ago.[74]

Crystallization of this magma ocean would have created a mafic mantle from the precipitation and sinking of the
minerals olivine, clinopyroxene, and orthopyroxene; after about three-quarters of the magma ocean had crystallized, lower-
density plagioclase minerals could form and float into a crust atop.[75] The final liquids to crystallize would have been initially
sandwiched between the crust and mantle, with a high abundance of incompatible and heat-producing elements.[1] Consistent with
this perspective, geochemical mapping made from orbit suggests a crust of mostly anorthosite.[16] The Moon rock samples of the
flood lavas that erupted onto the surface from partial melting in the mantle confirm the mafic mantle composition, which is more iron-
rich than that of Earth.[1] The crust is on average about 50 kilometres (31 mi) thick.[1]

The Moon is the second-densest satellite in the Solar System, after Io.[76] However, the inner core of the Moon is small, with a radius
of about 350 kilometres (220 mi) or less,[1] around 20% of the radius of the Moon. Its composition is not well understood, but is
probably metallic iron alloyed with a small amount of sulfur and nickel; analyses of the Moon's time-variable rotation suggest that it
is at least partly molten.[77] The pressure at the lunar core is estimated to be 5 GPa (49,000 atm).[78]

Gravitational field

An astronaut jumping on the Moon, illustrating that

the gravitational pull of the Moon is approximately 1/6 of Earth's. The jumping height is limited
by the EVA space suit's weight on the Moon of about 13.6 kg (30 lb) and by the suit's
pressurization resisting the bending of the suit, as needed for jumping. [79][80]

On average the Moon's surface gravity is 1.62 m/s2[4] (0.1654 g; 5.318 ft/s2), about half of the surface gravity of Mars and about a
sixth of Earth's.

The Moon's gravitational field is not uniform. The details of the gravitational field have been measured through tracking the Doppler
shift of radio signals emitted by orbiting spacecraft. The main lunar gravity features are mascons, large positive gravitational
anomalies associated with some of the giant impact basins, partly caused by the dense mare basaltic lava flows that fill those
basins.[81][82] The anomalies greatly influence the orbit of spacecraft about the Moon. There are some puzzles: lava flows by
themselves cannot explain all of the gravitational signature, and some mascons exist that are not linked to mare volcanism.[83]

Magnetic field
The Moon has an external magnetic field of less than 0.2 nanoteslas,[84] or less than one hundred thousandth that of Earth. The
Moon does not have a global dipolar magnetic field and only has crustal magnetization likely acquired early in its history when a
dynamo was still operating.[85][86] Early in its history, 4 billion years ago, its magnetic field strength was likely close to that of Earth
today.[84] This early dynamo field apparently expired by about one billion years ago, after the lunar core had crystallized.
[84]
Theoretically, some of the remnant magnetization may originate from transient magnetic fields generated during large impacts
through the expansion of plasma clouds. These clouds are generated during large impacts in an ambient magnetic field. This is
supported by the location of the largest crustal magnetizations situated near the antipodes of the giant impact basins.[87]

Atmosphere
Main article: Atmosphere of the Moon
 The thin lunar atmosphere is visible on the Moon's surface
at sunrise and sunset with the lunar horizon glow and lunar twilight rays, like
[88]

Earth's crepuscular rays. This Apollo 17 sketch depicts the glow and rays among the [89]

general zodiacal light. [90][91]

The Moon has an atmosphere so tenuous as to be nearly vacuum, with a total mass of less than 10 tonnes (9.8 long tons; 11 short
tons).[92] The surface pressure of this small mass is around 3 × 10−15 atm (0.3 nPa); it varies with the lunar day. Its sources
include outgassing and sputtering, a product of the bombardment of lunar soil by solar wind ions.[16][93] Elements that have been
detected include sodium and potassium, produced by sputtering (also found in the atmospheres of Mercury and Io); helium-
4 and neon[94] from the solar wind; and argon-40, radon-222, and polonium-210, outgassed after their creation by radioactive
decay within the crust and mantle.[95][96] The absence of such neutral species (atoms or molecules)
as oxygen, nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen and magnesium, which are present in the regolith, is not understood.[95] Water vapor has
been detected by Chandrayaan-1 and found to vary with latitude, with a maximum at ~60–70 degrees; it is possibly generated from
the sublimation of water ice in the regolith.[97] These gases either return into the regolith because of the Moon's gravity or are lost to
space, either through solar radiation pressure or, if they are ionized, by being swept away by the solar wind's magnetic field.[95]

Studies of Moon magma samples retrieved by the Apollo missions demonstrate that the Moon had once possessed a relatively thick
atmosphere for a period of 70 million years between 3 and 4 billion years ago. This atmosphere, sourced from gases ejected from
lunar volcanic eruptions, was twice the thickness of that of present-day Mars. The ancient lunar atmosphere was eventually stripped
away by solar winds and dissipated into space.[63]

A permanent Moon dust cloud exists around the Moon, generated by small particles from comets. Estimates are 5 tons of comet
particles strike the Moon's surface every 24 hours, resulting in the ejection of dust particles. The dust stays above the Moon
approximately 10 minutes, taking 5 minutes to rise, and 5 minutes to fall. On average, 120 kilograms of dust are present above the
Moon, rising up to 100 kilometers above the surface. Dust counts made by LADEE's Lunar Dust EXperiment (LDEX) found particle
counts peaked during the Geminid, Quadrantid, Northern Taurid, and Omicron Centaurid meteor showers, when the Earth, and
Moon pass through comet debris. The lunar dust cloud is asymmetric, being more dense near the boundary between the Moon's
dayside and nightside.[98][99]

Surface conditions
 Gene Cernan with lunar dust stuck on his suit. Lunar dust is
highly abrasive and can cause damage to human lungs, nervous, and cardiovascular systems. [100]

Ionizing radiation from cosmic rays, the Sun and the resulting neutron radiation[101] produce radiation levels on average of
1.369 millisieverts per day during lunar daytime,[14] which is about 2.6 times more than on the International Space Station with 0.53
millisieverts per day at about 400 km above Earth in orbit, 5-10 times more than during a trans-Atlantic flight, 200 times more than
on Earth's surface.[102] For further comparison radiation on a flight to Mars is about 1.84 millisieverts per day and on Mars on average
0.64 millisieverts per day, with some locations on Mars possibly having levels as low as 0.342 millisieverts per day.[103][104]

The Moon's axial tilt with respect to the ecliptic is only 1.5427°,[8][105] much less than the 23.44° of Earth. Because of this small tilt, the
Moon's solar illumination varies much less with season than on Earth and it allows for the existence of some peaks of eternal light at
the Moon's north pole, at the rim of the crater Peary.

The surface is exposed to drastic temperature differences ranging from 140 °C to −171 °C depending on the solar irradiance.
Because of the lack of atmosphere, temperatures of different areas vary particularly upon whether they are in sunlight or shadow,
[106]
making topographical details play a decisive role on local surface temperatures.[107] Parts of many craters, particularly the bottoms
of many polar craters,[108] are permanently shadowed, these "craters of eternal darkness" have extremely low temperatures.
The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter measured the lowest summer temperatures in craters at the southern pole at 35 K (−238 °C;
−397 °F)[109] and just 26 K (−247 °C; −413 °F) close to the winter solstice in the north polar crater Hermite. This is the coldest
temperature in the Solar System ever measured by a spacecraft, colder even than the surface of Pluto.[107]

Blanketed on top of the Moon's crust is a highly comminuted (broken into ever smaller particles) and impact gardened mostly gray
surface layer called regolith, formed by impact processes. The finer regolith, the lunar soil of silicon dioxide glass, has a texture
resembling snow and a scent resembling spent gunpowder.[110] The regolith of older surfaces is generally thicker than for younger
surfaces: it varies in thickness from 10–15 m (33–49 ft) in the highlands and 4–5 m (13–16 ft) in the maria.[111] Beneath the finely
comminuted regolith layer is the megaregolith, a layer of highly fractured bedrock many kilometers thick.[112]

These extreme conditions for example are considered to make it unlikely for spacecraft to harbor bacterial spores at the Moon
longer than just one lunar orbit.[113]