The moon captures our fascination with its serene presence in the night sky and its intriguing mysteries. If you’re curious about why this celestial body doesn’t have an atmosphere, you’re in the right place.
The moon lacks an atmosphere due to its weak gravity, which is about 1/6th of Earth’s. This low gravity can’t retain gas molecules, causing them to escape constantly. As a result, no atmosphere forms around the moon.
The magnetic field influences the moon’s lack of atmosphere. Earth’s magnetic field shields its atmosphere from the sun’s charged particles. The moon, without a magnetic field, gets bombarded by these particles, making its surface extremely hostile to life.
Moon vs Earth Atmosphere
The moon has thin layers of gases on its surface, but they’re not dense enough to be called an atmosphere. Earth has an atmosphere because its gravity is stronger than the moon’s. Gas molecules are pulled closer to Earth’s surface and don’t escape as easily.
The moon lacks an atmosphere, so there’s no weather like on Earth. No wind, no rain. Temperatures range dramatically, from -280°F at night to 260°F during the day.
Although the moon lacks an atmosphere, it has an exosphere with low levels of hydrogen, helium, and other gases. These gases are bound by gravity but keep escaping, making the exosphere too thin to be a proper atmosphere.