The Moon
Earth's silver companion
Born from a collision 4.5 billion years ago, the Moon stabilizes Earth's axis and drives our tides. Its cratered face has barely changed in billions of years.
Image: Gregory H. Revera
Vital statistics
Orbits
Earth
Gravity vs Earth
0.166 g
Diameter
3,474 km
Distance
384,400 km
Orbital period
27.3 days
Did you know
The Moon drifts 3.8 cm further from Earth each year.
Fact 01
12 humans have walked on its surface.
Fact 02
Its far side is permanently hidden from Earth.
Fact 03
Research & publications
Jump straight into peer-reviewed papers, preprints and authoritative references for The Moon.
arXiv (preprints)
Open-access preprints in physics & astrophysics.
NASA ADS
The definitive bibliographic database for astronomy.
Google Scholar
Cross-publisher academic search.
Nature
Peer-reviewed articles in Nature & sister journals.
Wikipedia
Encyclopedic overview & onward references.
Tip: ask the Research AI for a curated reading list → /research
