Earth's natural satellite · moon of Earth
Moon
Earth's only natural satellite and the only other world humans have walked on, from Apollo 11 to today's lunar landers.
- Distance from Earth today
- 373,100 km0.002 AU · light: 1.2 s
- As of
- 2 November 2026Live distance and chart →
Where it is today
Top view of the plane of Earth’s orbit, compressed distance scale. Open on the big map with the time slider →
Facts
- Diameter
- 3,475 km
- Mass
- 0.0730 × 10²⁴ kg
- Density
- 3,340 kg/m³
- Surface gravity
- 1.6 m/s²
- Escape velocity
- 2.4 km/s
- Rotation period
- 27.3 days
- Mean distance from Earth
- 384,400 km
- Orbital period
- 27.3 days
- Orbital eccentricity
- 0.055
- Orbital inclination
- 5.2°
- Axial tilt
- 6.7°
- Mean temperature
- -20 °C
- Rings
- no
- Global magnetic field
- no
Source of the figures: NASA Planetary Fact Sheet, JPL SSD – Planetary Satellites (public domain).
Description
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and, relative to its planet, one of the largest moons in the Solar System. It most likely formed from debris thrown out when a Mars-sized body collided with the young Earth. Tidal forces have locked it so that it always shows us the same face; the dark patches on that side are maria, plains of ancient solidified lava, while the bright highlands are older and heavily cratered. Its gravity drives most of Earth's ocean tides and is slowly pushing the Moon farther away. In 1969 Apollo 11 landed the first people on its surface, China's Chang'e 4 made the first soft landing on the far side in 2019, and India's Chandrayaan-3 touched down near the south pole in 2023, where water ice may be trapped in shadowed craters.
Surface map and landing sites
Texture: Solar System Scope (CC BY 4.0) · names: IAU/USGS Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature
| Mission | Site | Date | Coordinates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apollo 11 | Tranquility Base, Mare Tranquillitatis | 20 July 1969 | 0.674° N, 23.473° E |
| Chang'e 4 | Statio Tianhe, Von Kármán crater | 3 January 2019 | 45.445° S, 177.599° E |
| Chandrayaan-3 | Shiv Shakti Point | 23 August 2023 | 69.373° S, 32.319° E |