Space Objects and Comets: Moon

Information, news, and photographs of the Moon.

Lunar land available!

SMART 1 - ESA Lunar Orbiter Mission (2003) Lunar Prospector - NASA Lunar Discovery Mission Clementine - DoD/NASA Lunar Mapping Mission Galileo - NASA Mission to Jupiter - Lunar Flyby Apollo - NASA Lunar Manned Missions Lunar Orbiter - NASA Lunar Mapping Missions Surveyor - NASA Lunar Lander Missions Ranger - NASA Lunar Impact Missions Luna and Zond - Soviet Lunar Missions Hiten - ISAS Lunar Flyby and Orbiter AsiaSat 3/HGS-1 - Commercial Telecommunications Satellite

Earth and its Moon are relatively close in size, but the similarities end there The Moon has no atmosphere and very weak gravity Compared with the other moons in our solar system, our own Moon is something of an oddity. Except for tiny Pluto, all the other planets are much larger than their moons. But Earth is only about four times wider than its moon. Compared to huge planets like Jupiter and Saturn, which are 40 or 50 times larger than their biggest moons, Earth and its Moon could almost be considered twin planets.

STATISTICS: THE MOON • Mean Radius: 1737.4 km • Mass: 0.012 (Earth=1) • Density: 3.34 (g/cm3) • Gravity: 0.165 (Earth=1)) • Orbit Period: 27.32 (Earth days) • Rotation Period: 27.32 (Earth days) • Semimajor Axis of Orbit: 384,400 km • Eccentricity of Orbit: 0.055 • Distance From Earth: 238,000 miles (380,000 km) Source: USGS

The Earth may only have one Moon, but it's a big one! The Earth's Moon is the fifth largest in the whole solar system. But it is still smaller than the Earth, so objects weigh less on the Moon than they do here. That's why the astronauts could enjoy bouncing around on the lunar surface.

The Moon has been a source of unceasing mystery and speculation since the dawn of time, casting its shadow into the customs of many lands. The Moon has been the stuff of poetry, romance, enchantments, and things that go bump in the night.

Each image is available as a: print, sized to be printed on an 8.5 x 11-inch paper, or as a higher resolution image, more suitable for screen viewing. North is to the top of each image. The center coordinate is labeled on each image. Latitude and longitude lines are drawn at 10o intervals.