Below are fourteen facts about the Moon and a table of statistics.

The Moon has no atmosphere. It is through atmosphere that light is dispersed (spread) and sound waves travel (light waves and sound waves bounce off tiny particles in an atmosphere). This means that no sound can be heard on the Moon. The sky is always black because light cannot be spread, unlike on Earth where light spreads to give the sky a blue colour and on Mars where it spreads through its thin atmosphere to give the sky a pinkish/reddish colour.

The Moon had a volcanic history. A picture taken in 1994 by the Clementine mission shows a volcano on the Moon's South Pole from millions of years ago. This is fairly recently in the Moon's history (most of the surface features of the Moon are billions of years old), which explains why there are few impact craters nearby.

We only ever see one side of the Moon. This is because when it formed and its inner liquids went solid, most were pulled towards Earth, making it slightly egg-shaped, heavier on one side (the side that we can see) and therefore not able to spin freely. Instead, it spins with the Earth. As the opposite side of the Moon is never seen from Earth, it is often referred to as the "Dark Side of the Moon." This is despite the fact that it is actually exposed to the Sun for two weeks during each of the Moon's cycles.

The first time people on Earth ever saw the "Dark Side of the Moon" was on 7th October 1959 when the Soviet (Russian) spacecraft, Luna 3, sent back the first pictures. This revealed that the far side of the Moon is much more cratered than the side facing Earth.

IMAGE TO THE RIGHT: The Moon's heavily cratered far side, taken during the Apollo 16 mission in April 1972

Only 12 people have stepped on the surface of the Moon, spread over six missions between 1969 and 1972. All of these landings have been American. Those astronauts are Neil Armstrong, Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin, Pete Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard, Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke Jr., Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt.

In 1610, the Italian astronomer, Galileo Galilei noticed that the Moon had craters caused by meteorite impacts. This disgraced people at the time who believed the Moon to be a perfect sphere created by the gods.

The first manned moon landing was on 20th July 1969 (Apollo 11 launched on 16th July 1969). The last manned moon landing was three years later on 11th December 1972 (Apollo 17 launched on 7th December 1972).

The Moon is the fourth biggest moon in the Solar System (after Ganymede and Callisto of Jupiter, and Titan of Saturn). The Moon is also larger than the dwarf planets Pluto and Eris. It is the 14th largest known object in the Solar System (click here for a list of the Solar System objects by size)

Despite the manned lunar missions being named after Apollo, in classical mythology, Apollo is actually the god of the Sun.

The famous picture to the left is quite often mistakenly believed to be a picture of Neil Armstrong on the surface of the Moon. It is in fact a picture of Buzz Aldrin on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission. However, Neil Armstrong can be seen in the reflection of Buzz Aldrin's visor.

Buzz Aldrin's mother's maiden name is Moon!

Selenophobia is the name given for the persistant and irrational fear of the Moon. Sufferers of this phobia have panic attacks, with symptoms including sweating, trembling and feeling faint, whenever seeing or thinking about the Moon. The attacks are often stronger when the Moon is bright or full. 

Do you have any fascinating facts about the Moon or any comments on any of the above facts? If so, email Bob at bob@bobthealien.co.uk!

VIEW FACTS ABOUT OTHER DESTINATIONS
The Sun - Mercury - Venus - Earth - The Moon - Mars - Jupiter - Saturn - Uranus - Neptune - Pluto and Dwarf Planets

STATISTICS

© Bob the Alien's Tour of the Solar System 2007

Page added: March 2000
Page Last updated: 4th November 2007