Facts about the Moon!
Calling all budding young space cadets! Join us as we head into the universe to discover ten fascinating facts about the Moon…
10 facts about the Moon
- 1) The Moon is a dusty ball of rock, measuring 3,476km in diameter – that’s roughly a quarter of the size of Earth.
- 2) Its surface is home to mountains, huge craters and flat planes called ‘seas’ made of hardened lava.
- 3) The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite – a celestial body that orbits a planet. Its orbit around our planet is shaped like a slightly squashed circle known as an ellipse.
- 4) It takes 27.3 days for the Moon to travel all the way around the Earth and complete its orbit.
- 5) Although the Moon shines bright in the night sky, it doesn’t produce its own light. We see the Moon because it reflects light from the Sun.
- 6) Ever noticed how the Moon appears to change shape each night? That’s because as the Moon orbits the Earth, the Sun lights up different parts of its surface – so it’s just our view of the Moon that’s changing, not the Moon itself. Find out more in our fascinating phases of the Moon feature!
Check out our magazine!

National Geographic Kids is an exciting monthly read for planet-passionate boys and girls, aged 6-13!
Packed full of fun features, jaw-dropping facts and awe-inspiring photos – it’ll keep you entertained for hours!
Find our magazine in all good newsagents, or become a subscriber and have it delivered to your door! Ask your parents to check out the ‘Subscribe’ tab on our website!
(AD)
- 7) As the Moon travels, it rotates on its own axis, just like our planet. It takes roughly the same amount of time for the Moon to make a full rotation as it does for it to complete its orbit. This means we only ever see around 60% of the Moon’s surface from Earth! The part that faces Earth is known as the ‘near side’ and the other, the ‘far side’.
- 8) The temperature on the Moon varies from super hot to super cold! When the Sun hits its surface, temperatures can reach a scorching 127°C. But when the Sun ‘goes down’, temperatures can plummet to around -153°C. Brr…
- 9) Like Earth, the Moon has gravity (the force that pulls things towards the ground). But the Moon’s gravity is weaker, only one sixth of the Earth’s gravity, in fact. That means you’d weigh much less if you were to stand on the Moon!
- 10) Scientists aren’t entirely sure how the Moon formed. A popular theory is that a Mars-sized rock, named Theia, crashed into Earth around 4.5 billion years ago. The debris from the collision clumped together to make what is now… Our Moon!
What do you think of our facts about the Moon? Out of this world, right?! Leave a comment below and let us know…
More Like Space

Tim Peake interview!

Female astronaut sets super space records!

Satellites set to track animals from space!

LEAVE A COMMENT
THANK YOU
Your comment will be checked and approved shortly.
WELL DONE,
YOUR COMMENT
HAS BEEN ADDED!
COMMENTS1
Aubrey ^^
I'm doing a project for school and I never knew this much about the moon!
tiffany.butler
stephanie9964
COOL!
Hannah Zhang
COOL!
amc30094027
AMAZING+COOL+INTERESTING
ail2898
Nice
Friend_gamer45
This is interesting stuff
Friend_gamer45
nice!
Hi
DreamWasTaken
Nice
Ee
Yyyyyu
Good
crabsy
yay
harrison
hi
harrison
isabella
it is cool
Nick
interesting!
nalani
this is so cool
jacob
abr3809
i love this
Hannah
Awesome facts!
Afiq
Well nice
Ryan
Cccccccccoooooooooooolllllllllllllllll
Afiq
e
noname
I want to go to the moon!
Lucinda
Lena
I really loved it
Lena
Lena
PinkLady247
This website is amazing!!!
PinkLady247
Logfuf
it was nice
luke
I enjoyed reading your facts about the moon.
MissGalacticNarwhal
Thanks(❁´◡`❁)
Nova
listen I'm in college but these facts (moon)rock
hi
cool
cairo
wow
Marwa
It is so cool to see you all too good
Bella
kk
tje1055
Jacob
Noice
ellah9752
cool
d
wow
Aaliyah
The moon is cool
ILoveFacts!!!!!!!!!
Cool!
ToxicToxic90
cool
ToxicToxic90
cool
James
cool
Cool!
cool
Madison
Sathvik
I like this
Oak Home learning Tuesday 30th June – Ellel St John's CE Primary School
[…] https://www.natgeokid s.com/uk/discover/scie nce/space/facts-about- the-moon/ […]
Maths and English – Tuesday 30th June | Year 6 Hall Blog
[…] Then, read : Reading 2 […]
Maths and English – Tuesday 30th June | Year 6 Park Blog
[…] Then, read : Reading 2 […]
Tuesday’s English lesson | Year Six
[…] Facts about the Moon! […]
Nice
I AM KING
it's good
WOW
THIS IS GREAT!!!!
hi
the moon can't have been formed like that because the world wasn't formed 4.5 billion years ago
Hannah
You have such GOOD facts!
awesom
wow amazing facts
Mike
Cool facts
CHUMPY
EPIC FACTS
yoto
good
Ayah
Cool fact
Matilda
I love the moon Great work learning all of these facts about the moon
alexander
awesome facts!
Maroun 3D hi eden
cool info
cheesyburger
you should add some connection
Katerina
These are very interesting
fake
fake
fake
Cool!
GHOEST
THX
MKMK
THX FOR THE HELP
dan
cool
DANIEL1233
Amazing
jeff
thx
jeff
thx for the facts
really interesting
sophie
awesome
Matilda
I love the moon
milly
thanks for the three facts about the moon
Rhiannon
I love space and I dint know that the earth spins faster then the moon
Ayla
Hi
yah
fun
wow!!!!!!
Ben
Cool
jordanjiga1
awsome
Aryn
I like it
emily ;v
the mooon
jay
awesome
Monique
Cool
annie
well done.
Brodie
I didn’t know that the moon can get as hot as 127 degrees
Afaf
Nice! I already knew some of these but the rest were very surprising...
I didn’t know that the moon can get as hot as 127 degrees Celsius when the sun hits it’s surface!
Jai
Cool facts bro
1/2 Silver
1/2 Silver have enjoyed reading and talking about National Geographic's interesting facts about the Moon. We mainly liked being educated on the different temperatures and learning that the Moon itself does not change shape, but the reflection of the Sun on the Moon makes it appear to change shape. We are all eager to learn more about our Moon. Together 1/2 Silver gave you a 5/5 Moons!
Austin
Thanks for all the awesome facts!
#moon
These are some interesting facts about the moon that I have never heard before, my question is "how did all the planets appear ( including the sun ) and how big is the universe.
Georgia
thease facts where awesome
Monson
I love Reading
anymonous
coolllll!!
Ashton
Facts!
luke
cool facts!
Nishi
Cool
DANIELB244695
I LOVE
opal llululullullululul
thx for the moon facts
Emily
Cool
Leximus!!!!!
thanks for your information ciao
will and ow
thanks for your help ciao
Cool
Boston
D e c e n t
Bloop
Very good
wilbur
awsome
Hammer
AWESOME
ben
so cool its so cool
Olivia
Thank you
Harley
Awesome facts
food
WOW!
zave
cool
Tariss
can't wait to see
sophia
I love this website
Sophia
Cool facts
Little Ironstins
Climb aboard get ready to explore
Neil Armstrong
I was the first man on the moon.
max
great facts
remy
nice
thomas
very cool
connor pink
cool facts!
Coco
This is awesome
MoonlightGamer
Wow that was interesting I want to learn more
beau
good info!
beau
very interesting site!
Cool
Ryan
Love it a lot
Angel wrathall
I love this
Shylah
Cool,wow,I love it
EdenTheBest
50 years since Apollo 11
Chris
Awesome
Gg
I love space
I am learning about the moon
Kate
Your facts are amazing
Ava
Good facts
proffester poopypants
Okay.
kaley wolleson
I really liked how you explained all the facts about the moon, and all the details. I really liked how you put it together.
Dusty
Great info for a workshop about the moon!
Charlie
I love learning about the moon.
bean
Cool!
alexander
it is so helpful
Architaa
Hi thank u because of this now I can do my homework
lol
lol lol lol
Chloe
So cool great amaze ball facts that I had know clue about
Delysia
they give a lot of information on the moon when you can read it slowly so you don't loose your place. NEXT TIME MORE FACTS
rosie
lol
The facts are very cool!
It's very interesting.
lexie morris
amazing
Latu
Hi
poppy
woooowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww
FUNTIME THYLACINE
amazing i guess
vmhmghv
Amazing
pedro
lol
Lillee
Can’t wait soooooooooo cool!!!!!!!!
Fill
Double WOWS you guys were the best thing l could ever emagen
This is the best
Matthew
can you get all the facts and information pls so when I do my moon homework again I have more home work :Dhttps://www.natgeokids.com/wp-content/themes/natgeokids/images/avatars/ht_1.png
Dragon
MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON
Isabella
BANANAS
Jimmy
Awesome job Wow!!!!!!!!!!!!
kelsey1969
OMG
cool
a kid
Nice
lol
Love the app good facts
Tiffany Clinton
Omg hi y’all!
Lilly
so cool
sarah
This Is So Awesome!!!
amelia
thanks for help
Nation Of Sky
Thank You So Much! I need about The Science! Like Planets! I love Planets!
Oh yeah
you
i love it!
Facts about the Moon! – Year Three ML
[…] https://www.natgeokids.com/uk/discover/science/space/facts-about-the-moon/ […]
Rainbow
Nicee i had a project on it and it really was help ful thanks :D
dana
my teacher told me to go on here and it's just amazing.
TRUE
i love your video about dinosaurs it was so good
CUSTOMIZE YOUR AVATAR