These interesting facts about the moon might make you look at the night sky a little differently
15 Fun Facts About the Moon You Might Find Spooky
Twelve people have landed on the moon
As of 2025, only twelve people have ever set foot on the moon—all of them American astronauts from NASA’s Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972. It took six missions to make it happen, with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin of Apollo 11 being the first to take that historic step.
The moon is much smaller than Earth
Now, here’s a mind-blowing moon fact: It’s way smaller than Earth! In terms of diameter, the moon is about one-fourth the size of our planet—measuring 3,474 kilometers compared to Earth’s massive 12,756 kilometers.
There is almost no atmosphere on the moon
In fact, its atmosphere is so thin that the moon contains only a few hundred molecules per cubic centimeter, making it practically a vacuum. That means there’s no air to breathe—so if you ever find yourself on the moon, you’ll definitely need a spacesuit!
The moon is getting further away
Think the moon is slowly drifting closer to Earth? Nope—it’s actually moving away at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year! This happens because of tidal forces between the Earth and moon, subtly reshaping their relationship over time.
A day on the moon is around 27.3 Earth days long
Here’s another interesting fact about the moon: The moon takes the same amount of time to complete one full rotation on its axis as it does to orbit Earth—about 27.3 days. That’s why we always see the same side of the moon from our perspective here on Earth!
The moon has a graveyard
Most of the 200 tons of trash on the moon is space junk and ephemera crash-landed or left behind by the 12 astronauts who have visited since 1969. It includes abandoned satellites, spent rockets, cameras, backpacks and golf balls. But here’s one of the more morbid moon facts: Among the detritus on the moon are the ashes of Eugene Shoemaker, one of the founders of the field of planetary science, sent skyward by NASA in a polycarbonate capsule in 1998.
The moon is connected to lunacy
The full moon can, in fact, mess with your emotions. Back in the Middle Ages, scientists and philosophers believed that a full moon caused seizures and influenced episodes of fever and rheumatism. Because of the connection between the moon and unusual behavior, the afflicted were called lunatics—or, literally, “moon sick.”
The moon is disappearing
Sadly, this moon fact isn’t a myth. Each year, the moon’s orbit moves about four centimeters away from the Earth, meaning that in a mere 500 million years, the moon will be 14,600 miles farther away than it is right now.
The moon’s surface has footprints
Man hasn’t set foot on the moon in more than four decades, and yet, fresh prints remain. Is this evidence of an alien life form? Is Bigfoot taking up extra-planetary residence? Nah, they’re just leftover astronaut footprints. Because there’s no wind on the moon (with water ice only seen in shadowed regions), tracks can last millions of years.
A full moon might keep you awake
In a small study from the University of Basel in Switzerland, subjects monitored closest to a full moon experienced less deep sleep, produced less melatonin and took five minutes longer to fall asleep that those monitored during other times of the month. Sleep researcher Marie Dumont, who wasn’t involved in the study, suggests that the full moon could indirectly affect the internal body clock by increasing volunteers’ exposure to light in the evening.
The moon can turn red
As many people witnessed in November 2022, the moon can turn an eerie shade of red under the right conditions. But despite werewolf warnings and apocalypse alerts, scientists define the so-called “blood” moon as a purely astronomical event when the Earth casts a rust-colored shadow on the moon’s surface.
The moon casts darker shadows than the Earth
Astronauts on the moon immediately noticed that their shadows were much darker there than on Earth. The reason? The atmosphere that scatters light to create shadows on Earth is absent on the moon. The sun and the Earth itself provide a little bit of light, enough for shadows to still appear, but the shadows are much harder to see.
The moon experiences earthquakes (or moonquakes)
Just like the Earth, the moon has a crust that shifts and changes. Moonquakes can occur when the lunar crust warms and expands, or they can be triggered by meteorite impacts. While moonquakes don’t reach the same level of intensity as earthquakes, they can last much longer, because the moon has no water to combat seismic vibrations.
The moon has a time zone all its own
It’s called Lunar Standard Time, but it doesn’t simply correspond with a time on Earth. Time is quite different on the moon than it is on Earth; a year on the moon is divided into 12 “days,” each about as long as an Earth month. Each day is named after a different astronaut who has walked on the moon. The days are divided into 30 cycles, which are then divided into hours, minutes and seconds. Oh, and the calendar started the moment Neil Armstrong walked on the moon: Year 1, day 1, cycle 1 began on July 2, 1969, at 02:56:15 Universal Time. How’s that for a cool moon fact?
The moon experiences a huge range of temperatures
You probably think of Earth as located in the habitable, moderate zone of our solar system. Planets closer to the sun are far hotter, while the planets farther away experience frigid temperatures. But here’s one of the weirdest facts about the moon you probably don’t know: The moon experiences some pretty intense temperatures on both ends of the spectrum, considering how close it is to our life-friendly planet. During the day, temperatures can be as high as 200 degrees Fahrenheit. By the moon’s poles, though, the temperature stays around minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit. This disparity is due to the moon’s lack of an atmosphere.
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Sources:
- Lowell Milken Center for Unsung Heroes: “Meet the Hero: Gene Shoemaker”
- BBC: “What will the next footprints on the Moon look like?”
- Science Direct: “Evidence That the Lunar Cycle Influences Human Sleep”
- Amaral Lab: “The Lunar Standard Time”
- NASA Science: “The Moon’s Permanently Shadowed Regions”
- New Scientist: “Full moon could be to blame for a poor night’s sleep”
- Royal Museums Greenwich: “Interesting Facts About the Moon”
- NASA Science: “Who Has Walked on the Moon?”
- NASA Science: “Five Things to Know about the Moon”
- NASA Science: “The Moon’s Atmosphere”
- NASA Science: “Top Moon Questions”
