Why are there temperature differences on the moon surface

Here on Earth, the atmosphere acts like a blanket, trapping heat. Sunlight passes through the atmosphere, and warms up the ground. The moon takes 27 days to rotate once on its axis. So any place on the surface of the Moon experiences about 13 days of sunlight, followed by 13 days of darkness.

The temperature range on Pluto was found to be a comparable minus to minus F minus to minus C. Astronauts on the moon were protected from the extreme temperatures by their spacesuits. The suits had several layers of insulating material covered by a highly reflective outer layer. The suits also had internal heaters and cooling systems.

The surface of the Moon features a huge number of impact craters from comets and asteroids that have collided with the surface over time. Because the Moon lacks an atmosphere and has no weather, these craters remain well preserved. The very thin atmosphere means no sound can be heard on the moon and the sky always appears black.

Grains of water ice were part of the cloud, confirming that water exists in permanently shadowed regions near the poles of the moon. This might also have happened on Earth. Meteorologist Paul Dorian Perspecta, Inc. Contact Us Use the form on the right to contact us. Philadelphia New York City Huntsville.

Outlooks Medium range outlooks Seasonal Outlooks. Info Email. All Blog Posts. When the sun goes down, temperatures can dip to minus F minus C. Temperatures change all across the moon, as both the near and far side experience sunlight every lunar year, or terrestrial month, due to lunar rotation.

The moon tilts on its axis about 1. This means the moon does not have seasons like Earth does. However, because of the tilt, there are places at the lunar poles that never see daylight. Scientists suspected that water ice could exist in the moon's dark craters that are in permanent shadow.

In , a NASA radar aboard India's Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft detected water ice in more than 40 small craters at the moon's north pole.