Unknown / Interesting Facts About the Moon

* The Moon is about 4.5 billion years old, almost as old as Earth.
* The Moon is gradually moving away from Earth at about 3.8 centimeters per year.
* The Moon has no atmosphere thick enough to protect it from space rocks, radiation, or extreme temperatures.
* Because there is virtually no atmosphere, sound cannot travel across the lunar surface. Astronauts could not hear someone speaking nearby without radio communication.
* The Moon has water ice trapped in permanently shadowed craters near its poles.
* A day-night cycle on the Moon is extremely long. One lunar daytime lasts about 14 Earth days, followed by about 14 Earth days of night.
* Temperatures on the Moon can swing dramatically—from roughly 127°C in sunlight to −173°C in darkness.
* The Moon has moonquakes. Some are caused by Earth’s gravitational pull, while others occur as the Moon cools and contracts.
* The footprints left by Apollo astronauts could remain for millions of years because the Moon has no wind or rain to erode them.
* The Moon’s surface is covered with a fine, powdery material called regolith, created by billions of years of impacts.
* The Moon has mountains higher than many mountains on Earth. Some lunar peaks rise more than 5 kilometers above their surroundings.
* The largest known impact basin on the Moon is the South Pole–Aitken Basin, one of the biggest impact structures in the Solar System.
* The Moon is not perfectly spherical. It is slightly bulged toward Earth because of Earth’s gravitational influence.
* We always see nearly the same side of the Moon because it is tidally locked with Earth.
* The phrase “dark side of the Moon” is misleading. The far side receives just as much sunlight as the side facing Earth.
* The far side of the Moon has far fewer dark volcanic plains than the near side.
* The Moon’s gravity is only about one-sixth of Earth’s gravity. A person weighing 60 kg on Earth would experience a weight equivalent to about 10 kg on the Moon.
* Astronauts on the Moon could jump much higher than on Earth because of the Moon’s weaker gravity.
* The Moon has no global magnetic field today, although some lunar rocks preserve evidence that it once had a stronger magnetic field.
* The Moon is slowly becoming smaller as its interior cools. Scientists have found evidence of geological faults associated with this contraction.
* The Moon has tiny glass beads in its soil, formed when ancient impacts melted lunar material.
* Some permanently shadowed lunar craters have temperatures cold enough to preserve volatile substances such as water ice for extremely long periods.
* The Moon helps stabilize Earth’s axial tilt, which contributes to Earth’s relatively stable long-term climate.
* The Moon’s gravity is the main cause of Earth’s ocean tides, although the Sun also contributes significantly.
* The Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun, but it is also about 400 times closer to Earth. This coincidence allows the Moon to appear almost the same size as the   Sun in our sky.
* Because of this apparent size coincidence, the Moon can completely cover the Sun during a total solar eclipse.
* The Moon is gradually causing Earth’s rotation to slow down through tidal interactions.
* The Moon has no liquid oceans, lakes, or rivers on its surface today, despite having features that can look like seas from Earth.
* The dark patches visible from Earth are called maria (singular: mare). They are ancient plains formed largely by volcanic activity.

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