Is the Moon Leaving Us?

Ah, the moon. The largest object in the night sky. A symbol of beauty and wonder across the world and throughout time. But as familiar as the moon is to us tiny earthlings, it’s still alien in many ways. Here are some incredible facts about the moon you never knew before.

The Moon Is Pretty Dark (But Stay Out of the Sun!)

The moon is the brightest object in the night sky, glowing a brilliant silver-white against the inky black of space. However, the moon isn’t actually all that bright; it just appears that way because it reflects sunlight, and even then, the surface is only about as reflective as worn asphalt. It looks like it glows because of its proximity to Earth and the unfiltered brightness of the sun bouncing off it.

Up close, the moon is dark grey from the volcanic rock in its composition. Sunlight can’t even penetrate some of its craters and crags. Yet when a part of the moon is exposed to sunlight, the ultra-thin atmosphere (exosphere) lets in a lot of heat, and things get toasty. Temperatures on the moon can reach as high as 260 degrees F (127 degrees C). As a reminder, the boiling point of water is 212 degrees F. If you are planning a lunar excursion, pack sunblock!

The Moon Is Deadly

“Oh, really?” you might be saying to yourself. “The place where there’s no oxygen is maybe not the best for human life? Surely you jest.”

Which… yes, okay, fair enough. But that’s only one part of it!

The moon is covered with lunar dust made up of tiny particles of silicate. On Earth, erosion via wind or water rounds out most silicate dust, making it a problem only in extreme situations or for people working dangerous jobs underground.

However, there is no wind on the moon (there is water, but only in the form of ice in certain places). Without erosion, the silicate dust remains tiny, jagged particles, almost like glass, floating around. Unsurprisingly, breathing in glass dust is not great for the human respiratory system, and this lunar dust can even eat through vacuum seals and spacesuit boots.

As of 2024, 12 people have walked on the moon. All of them have suffered from “lunar hay fever,” with symptoms including nasal congestion and sneezing that took days to clear. While we aren’t sure how toxic long-term exposure to lunar dust is, we can conjecture from similar conditions found in terrestrial miners that it could lead to scarred lungs and brain damage.

The Moon Is Leaving Us

One of the first things you learn in school is how the moon creates the tides with its gravity. But this same process causes the moon to drift more than an inch (around 3.8 centimeters) away from the Earth each year.

The moon is 1/400 the size of the sun and 1/400 the distance from the Earth to the sun. As a result, the moon and sun look about the same size in the sky, which is why Earth alone can have total solar eclipses. This is likely to change as the position of the moon changes over time.

Give the moon a little more appreciation. It won’t stay the same forever.

References: Interesting facts about the Moon | Moon Facts | The toxic side of the Moon
| Total Solar Eclipses Are Cosmic Coincidences That Won’t Last Forever | Moonlight