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You are here: Home / Science / Did the Moon ever have an atmosphere?

Did the Moon ever have an atmosphere?

March 12, 2020 by Karen Hill

The Moon has an atmosphere now, though it is a very thin and highly dispersed collection of molecules, not suitable for breathing by Earthlings.

The existence of a lunar atmosphere was reported in 1933, based on observation of the Moon using a mask that filtered out moonlight in order to study the spectrum of light emitted by sodium.

Although sodium is believed to be just a trace in the Moon’s atmosphere, it is studied because it is relatively easy to detect and is used as a marker for other components, such as potassium, neon, argon, and helium.

A 1993 study of lunar sodium by Boston University scientists using improved instruments determined that the atmosphere extended at least 5,000 miles above the Moon’s surface. The molecules, however, are few and far between, only an estimated 10 million per cubic centimeter near the Moon’s surface.

Earth’s atmosphere is about a billion times as dense.

The sources of the atmosphere are believed to be the release of gases from within the Moon by moonquakes (a phenomenon called outgassing) and the loosening of molecules from the surface by the impact of molecules from the solar wind or by meteorites.

A few moons of other planets have much more impressive atmospheres, like that of Jupiter’s Titan, a thick haze of nitrogen and methane, and that of Europa, a thin wisp of oxygen.

Related Facts

  • Does the Moon Have an Atmosphere and Is the Moon's Atmosphere Similar To Earth's Atmosphere?
  • Why Does Earth Have an Atmosphere and What Are the Different Layers of the Atmosphere Called?
  • How Did the Earth's Atmosphere Form and When Did Oxygen First Form In the Earth's Atmosphere?
  • What Is Pluto's Atmosphere Made of and How Deep Is the Atmosphere On the Planet Pluto?
  • Why Do the Phases of the Moon Take Longer Than One Moon Orbit and How Often Does the Moon Orbit the Earth?
  • How Is Latitude and Longitude Different On the Moon and Does the Moon Have an Equator Like Earth?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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