The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth, when observing it, many questions arise for both astronomers and ordinary people. And one of the most interesting is the following: does the atmosphere of the moon exist?
After all, if it exists, it means that life on this cosmic body is also possible, even the most primitive one. We will try to answer this question as detailed and reliable as possible, using the latest scientific hypotheses.
Does the moon have an atmosphere?
Most people who think about this will answer pretty quickly. Of course, the moon's atmosphere is missing. However, in reality this is not the case. A shell of gases is still present on the Earth's natural satellite. But what density it has, what gases are included in the composition of the lunar "air" - these are completely different questions, it will be especially interesting and important to answer them.
How thick is it?
Unfortunately, the Moon's atmosphere is very rarefied. In addition, the density index varies greatly depending on the time of day. For example, at night, there are about 100,000 molecules of gas per cubic centimeter of the lunar atmosphere. During the day, this figure changes significantly - ten times. Due to the fact that the surface of the moon is very hot, the density of the atmosphere drops to 10 thousand molecules.
Someone will find this figure impressive. Alas, even for the most unpretentious creatures from the Earth, such a concentration of air will be fatal. Indeed, on our planet, the density is 27 x 10 to the eighteenth power, that is, 27 quintillion molecules.
If you collect all the gas on the moon and weigh it, you get a surprisingly small number - only 25 tons. Therefore, once on the Moon without special equipment, not a single living being will be able to stretch it for a long time - it will last for a few seconds at best.
What gases are present in the atmosphere
Now that we have established that the Moon has an atmosphere, albeit a very, very rarefied one, we can move on to the next, no less important question: what gases are included in its composition?
The main components of the atmosphere are hydrogen, argon, helium and neon. For the first time, samples were taken by an expedition as part of the Apollo project. It was then that it was established that the composition of the atmosphere includes helium and argon. Much later, using special equipment, astronomers observing the Moon from the Earth were able to establish that it also contains hydrogen, potassium and sodium.
A quite natural question arises: if the atmosphere of the Moon consists of these gases, then where do they come fromcome from? With the Earth, everything is simple - numerous organisms, ranging from unicellular to humans, turn one gas into another 24 hours a day.
But where did the atmosphere of the moon come from, if there are not and never have been living organisms? In fact, gases could form for a variety of reasons.
First of all, various substances were carried by numerous meteorites, as well as by the solar wind. Still, a significantly larger number of meteorites falls on the Moon than on Earth - again thanks to the almost absent atmosphere. In addition to gas, they could even bring water to our satellite! Having a greater density than gas, it did not evaporate, but simply collected in craters. Therefore, today scientists are making a lot of efforts, trying to find at least insignificant reserves - this can be a real breakthrough.
How the rarefied atmosphere affects
Now that we have figured out what the atmosphere is like on the Moon, we can take a closer look at the question of what effect it has on the cosmic body closest to us. However, it would be more accurate to admit that it has practically no effect on the Moon. But what does this lead to?
To begin with, our satellite is completely unprotected from solar radiation. As a result, "walking" on its surface without special, rather powerful and bulky protective equipment, it is quite possible to get radioactive exposure in a matter of minutes.
Also the satellite is defenselessbefore meteorites. Most of them, entering the Earth's atmosphere, almost completely burn out from friction against the air. About 60,000 kilograms of cosmic dust falls on the planet every year - all of it was meteorites of various sizes. They fall on the Moon in their original form, since its atmosphere is too rarefied.
Finally, the daily temperature fluctuations are huge. For example, at the equator during the day the soil can heat up to +110 degrees Celsius, and at night it can cool down to -150 degrees. On Earth, this does not happen due to the fact that the dense atmosphere plays the role of a kind of "blanket" that does not let part of the sun's rays through to the surface of the planet, and also does not allow heat to evaporate at night.
Has it always been like this?
As you can see, the Moon's atmosphere is a rather bleak sight. But has she always been like this? Just a few years ago, experts came to a shocking conclusion - it turns out not!
About 3.5 billion years ago, when our satellite was just being formed, violent processes were going on in the depths - volcanic eruptions, faults, magma splashes. During these processors, a large amount of sulfur oxide, carbon dioxide and even water were released into the atmosphere! The density of "air" here was three times higher than that which is observed today on Mars. Alas, the weak gravity of the Moon could not keep these gases - they gradually evaporated until the satellite became what we can see it in our time.
Conclusion
Our article is coming to an end. In it weconsidered a number of important questions: is there an atmosphere on the moon, how did it appear, what is its density, what gases does it consist of. Let's hope that you remember these useful facts and become an even more interesting and erudite conversationalist.
