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The atmosphere of the Moon is a very sparse layer of gases surrounding the Moon. For most practical purposes, the Moon is considered to be surrounded by vacuum. The elevated presence of atomic and molecular particles in its vicinity compared to interplanetary medium, referred to as " lunar atmosphere " for scientific objectives, is negligible ...
The Moon is Earth 's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period (lunar day) at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always ...
The atmosphere has a mass of about 5.15 × 10 18 kg, [3] three quarters of which is within about 11 km (6.8 mi; 36,000 ft) of the surface. The atmosphere becomes thinner with increasing altitude, with no definite boundary between the atmosphere and outer space. The Kármán line, at 100 km (62 mi) or 1.57% of Earth's radius, is often used as ...
The NASA astronauts who became the first people to land on the moon's surface in the 1960s and 1970s also discovered a previously unknown lunar characteristic - it has an atmosphere, though quite ...
The geology of the Moon (sometimes called selenology, although the latter term can refer more generally to "lunar science") is quite different from that of Earth. The Moon lacks a true atmosphere, and the absence of free oxygen and water eliminates erosion due to weather. Instead, the surface is eroded much more slowly through the bombardment ...
Internal structure of the Moon. Moon's internal structure. Olivine basalt collected by Apollo 15. Thermal state of the Moon at age 100 Ma. [1] Having a mean density of 3,346.4 kg/m 3, [2] the Moon is a differentiated body, being composed of a geochemically distinct crust, mantle, and planetary core. This structure is believed to have resulted ...
The animated image of the Moon's surface shows the effects of atmospheric turbulence on the view. Turbulence in Earth's atmosphere scatters the light from stars, making them appear brighter and fainter on a time-scale of milliseconds. The slowest components of these fluctuations are visible as twinkling (also called scintillation).
Ganymede, or Jupiter III, is the largest and most massive natural satellite of Jupiter, and in the Solar System. Despite being the only moon in the Solar System with a substantial magnetic field, it is the largest Solar System object without a substantial atmosphere. Like Saturn 's largest moon Titan, it is larger than the planet Mercury, but ...