why does the moon have so many craters compared to earth ?

Question

and why doesnt the moon have an atmosphere?

Answer 1

The mass of the moon is too small to sustain an atmosphere. Because it has no atmosphere (or tectonic activity) to erode the ground, the craters have stayed there almost unchanged since they were formed.

Answer 2

Does The Moon Have Craters

Answer 3

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Multiple reasons: 1) The moon does not have weather (which changes the surface and destroys evidence of small craters). Nor does it have vegetation, which quickly fills in craters. 2) The moon does not have tectonic movement or volcanism, which REALLY changes the surface (albeit slowly), and can destroy evidence of larger craters. 3) The moon does not have an atmosphere, which we do: this burns up small objects and can slow down large ones, or cause them to 'bounce' away at certain angles of incidence. 4) The moon does not have oceans, which both catch objects without creating craters, and hide previous craters. 5) The dust on the surface of the moon makes collisions "look" larger than they really are. There are craters present and visible on earth. However, they tend to be very old--which, since they disappear over time, means they tend to be VERY big.

Answer 4

Because meteorites disintegrate into small pieces as they enter the Earth's atmosphere... So the effect that they make on the Earths surface will not be much... However there are meteorites that reach the Earth in large pieces producing significantly large and deep crater... The moon does not have an atmosphere. That is why, meteorites hit it in practically the same large chunk as when they are still in space... So, compared to the Earth, the moon have more and larger meteorite craters.

Answer 5

Nobody gave the complete answer.

Most of the moon's craters were formed in the Early history of the Solar System when there were lots of debris flying around.

The Earth has remained more fluid than the moon and absorbed the hits it took back then.

Over hundreds of millions of years the Earth recycles its crust in a process called subduction where one tectonic plate is buried under another that rides over the top. This is still going on. It is very slow, but eventually all the crust is subducted and regurgitated somewhere else.

In the shorter term (tens of millions of years), erosional forces wear down any evidence of more recent craters on Earth.

The moon has neither tectonic forces or erosion. It's like it has no healing properties.

Answer 6

Actually, it is the moon's gravity that controls whether it can have an atmosphere or not. The magnetic field protects us from solar radiation and ions, not meteors. Because the moon's gravity is so low, it has a low escape velocity. The Sun heats up any gases present on the lunar surface enough for most molecules of that gas to achieve escape velocity, preventing it from having an atmosphere.

The moon has lots of craters because it has no atmosphere to ablate the smaller debris and has no erosional or tectonic activity to erase ancient scars. It is beleived the astronaut's footprints will last for hundreds of thousands of years or possibly millions if not disturbed by humans.

Answer 7

I like the previous answer but I have to disagree with the idea that the moon is too small to sustain an atmosphere. The size of the object is not that important as to whether it can sustain an atmosphere or not. I believe that scientists have found asteroids smaller than the moon which have atmospheres. The moon is a geologically dead body and cannot produce the magnetic forces needed to maintain an atmosphere. It requires a huge amount of magenetic force to be able to retain atmosphere. I could be wrong but I believe it is Earth's magnetic field that protects it not just its atmosphere.

Answer 8

The Moon has no atmosphere worth mentioning because it did not have enough mass to keep an atmosphere from quickly escaping into space, and because it is geologically dead so the lost gases are not replenished.

The reason it has more craters than Earth is because it has no atmosphere to burn them up before they hit the surface.

Answer 9

when things damage the moon and whatnot, the lack of erosion from sand and water, among other things, helps preserve the craters. the earth has plenty of craters, most covered up by such erosion. that's why footprints on the moon can be seen years later.

Answer 10

Wind, water and plate tectonics are erasing craters on Earth, but those processes do not exist on the Moon. The Moon has no atmosphere probably because it does not have enough gravity to hold on to one.