Moon

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This article is about Earth's natural satellite. For moons in general, see Natural satellite. For other
uses, see Moon (disambiguation).

Moon Moon symbol

Full Moon in the darkness of the night sky. It is patterned with a mix of light-tone regions and
darker, irregular blotches, and scattered with varying sizes of impact craters, circles surrounded by
out-thrown rays of bright ejecta.

Full moon seen from North America

Designations

Adjectives

Lunarselenic

Orbital characteristics

Epoch J2000

Perigee 362600 km

(356400–370400 km)

Apogee 405400 km

(404000–406700 km)

Semi-major axis

384399 km (0.00257 AU)[1]

Eccentricity 0.0549[1]

Orbital period

27.321661 d

(27 d 7 h 43 min 11.5 s[1])

Synodic period

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 ascending node

Regressing by one revolution in 18.61 years

Argument of perigee

Progressing by one revolution in 8.85 years

Satellite of Earth[b][3]

Physical characteristics

Mean radius

1737.1 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 (0.020 of Earth's)[4]

Mass 7.342×1022 kg (0.012300 of Earth's)[1][4] [6]

Mean density

3.344 g/cm3[1][4]

0.606 × Earth

Surface gravity

1.62 m/s2 (0.1654 g)[4]

Moment of inertia factor

0.3929±0.0009[7]

Escape velocity

2.38 km/s

Sidereal rotation period

27.321661 d (synchronous)

Equatorial rotation velocity

4.627 m/s

Axial tilt

1.5424° to ecliptic

6.687° to orbit plane[2]

24° to Earth's equator [8]

North pole right ascension

17h 47m 26s

266.86°[9]

North pole declination

65.64°[9]

Albedo 0.136[10]

Surface temp. min mean max

Equator 100 K 220 K 390 K

85°N 150 K 230 K[11]

Apparent magnitude

−2.5 to −12.9[c]

−12.74 (mean full moon)[4]

Angular diameter

29.3 to 34.1 arcminutes[4][d]

Atmosphere[12]

Surface pressure

10−7 Pa (1 picobar) (day)

10−10 Pa (1 femtobar) (night)[e]

Composition by volume

HeArNeNaKHRn

The Moon is an astronomical body that orbits planet Earth and is Earth's only permanent natural
satellite. It is the fifth-largest natural satellite in the Solar System, and the largest among planetary
satellites relative to the size of the planet that it orbits (its primary). The Moon is after Jupiter's
satellite Io the second-densest satellite in the Solar System among those whose densities are
known.

The Moon is thought to have formed about 4.51 billion years ago, not long after Earth. The most
widely accepted explanation is that the Moon formed from the debris left over after a giant impact
between Earth and a Mars-sized body called Theia.

The Moon is in synchronous rotation with Earth, and thus always shows the same side to Earth,
the near side. The near side is marked by dark volcanic maria that fill the spaces between the
bright ancient crustal highlands and the prominent impact craters. After the Sun, the Moon is the
second-brightest regularly visible celestial object in Earth's sky. Its surface is actually dark,
although compared to the night sky it appears very bright, with a reflectance just slightly higher
than that of worn asphalt. Its gravitational influence produces the ocean tides, body tides, and the
slight lengthening of the day.

The Moon's average orbital distance is 384,402 km (238,856 mi),[13][14] or 1.28 light-seconds.
This is about thirty times the diameter of Earth. The Moon's apparent size in the sky is almost the
same as that of the Sun, since the star is about 400 times the lunar distance and diameter.
Therefore, the Moon covers the Sun nearly precisely during a total solar eclipse. This matching of
apparent visual size will not continue in the far future because the Moon's distance from Earth is
gradually increasing.

The Moon was first reached in September 1959 by the Soviet Union's Luna 2, an unmanned
spacecraft. The United States' NASA Apollo program achieved the only manned lunar missions to
date, beginning with the first manned orbital mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned landings
between 1969 and 1972, with the first being Apollo 11. These missions returned lunar rocks which
have been used to develop a geological understanding of the Moon's origin, internal structure,
and the Moon's later history. Since the Apollo 17 mission in 1972, the Moon has been visited only
by unmanned spacecraft.

Both the Moon's natural prominence in the earthly sky and its regular cycle of phases as seen from
Earth have provided cultural references and influences for human societies and cultures since time
immemorial. Such cultural influences can be found in language, lunar calendar systems, art, and
mythology.