We are used to seeing the Moon in the evening and night sky. Even with the naked eye you can see craters and hills on its surface. People have long asked questions: “How old is our satellite?”, “There is an atmosphere on Earth, but does it exist on the Moon?”, “Maybe there is oxygen, water on its surface, and is it inhabited?”
Modern scientists can definitely answer these questions.
Key things to know
The distance to the Moon is 384,401 kilometers. It is the same age as the Earth and the rest of the solar system, that is, it appeared about 4.5 billion years ago and was formed from rocks and ice.
Our satellite always shows us one side. This is because the Earth and the Moon have the same period of rotation around their axis - 27.3 days. The shadow cast by the planet causes the bright disk in the sky to decrease or increase.
There are very large temperature differences on the Moon. On the sunny side from +130 °С and -170 °С on the dark side.
Does the moon have an atmosphere?
As we know, the Earth's atmosphere consists of gas and forms a shell called air. It is held in place by gravity, preventing gas molecules from escaping into space.
Because the moon has very little gravity, it can't hold enough gases to create a proper atmosphere. Despite this, our satellite still has a rarefied gaseous envelope, which consists of helium, hydrogen, neon and argon.
However, the fact that the moon has an atmosphere is unlikely to matter to us, because a person cannot breathe there without a spacesuit.
There are no sounds on the Moon and no wind. The rays of the Sun do not scatter in the air, so the sky is always black there, and even during the day, stars are visible above the bright side.
Oxygen, water and some more information about the Moon
Since there is an atmosphere on the Moon, is there water there?
Water is represented on the satellite as ice. If there is no weather or atmosphere on the Moon, where did it come from?
Scientists believe that on Earth, water probably came from comets, which are composed of ice mixed with rocks. They crashed into the surface when the planet was still very, very young. Ice on the Moon could have appeared in the same way. Most of the water on the Moon evaporated a long time ago, but there is still some left at the South Pole because it is in a dark area where the sun never shines.
Another question immediately arises: is there oxygen on the Moon, if we found out that it has an atmosphere and even water? free oxygenstate has not been identified, however, large areas of ilmenite, a mineral whose crystal lattice contains a huge amount of oxygen, were found on the surface using the Hubble telescope. So, this question can be answered in the affirmative.
So, now we know that there is a conditional atmosphere, water and oxygen on the Moon, although it is unlikely that people will be able to use them for living.
It's sad, but every year the satellite moves away from the Earth by a few centimeters. One day, the moment will come when he will overcome the force of the earth's gravity. Then the Moon will fly away from us and will travel until it is pulled to itself by the next, heavier cosmic body.
