Why isn't the moon really hot?

Question

If the moon is closer to the sun than we are, does it get extremely hot? For example, during an eclipse it is between us and the sun and a lot closer. Does it get really hot?

Answer 1

The moon has no real atmosphere, and no water or life on it, so nothing traps the heat when it's not being exposed directly to the sun. When the moon is directly exposed to the sun, the temperature is very high (over 100 degrees CELSIUS) and when it's not, it's very cold. (under -100 C.)

Answer 2

It is NOT closer to the Sun than we are. During a LUNAR eclipse, Earth is between the Sun and the Moon so the Moon is farther from the Sun than Earth. True, during a SOLAR eclipse the Moon is closer to the Sun than Earth, but not by a lot. In fact by very little. The Moon is 400 times closer to Earth that the Sun is, so the Moon during an eclipse is only 1/400 closer to the Sun than Earth. That difference is too small to matter.

Answer 3

It can get quite "toasty" on the sunlit side because of the direct rays of the sun and no atmosphere to diffuse the energy. On the dark side, temperatures are extremely low because heat can escape the surface quickly without an atmosphere to hold it. It really isn't that much closer to the sun...even during a solar eclipse. What is 250 thousand miles when compared to 93 million miles? Using the inverse square law here, the differential in insolation (not to be confused with insulation) between the moon and an atmosphereless Earth would be negligible.

Answer 4

The moon can get up to 130 C during the day and down to -110 C at night. In the grand scheme of things, the moon is VERY close to the Earth and it makes sense that there isn't a huge variation in temperature.

As a comparison, the temperature on Venus can near 500 C, which makes sense because Venus is MUCH MUCH closer to the Sun than the moon has ever been.

Answer 5

I don't think so...it is OUR MOON, the earth's moon, meaning it is pulled in by the earth's gravity so it is not that much closer to the sun than earth is....the sun is too far away i think for it to significantly raise the temperature of the moon, even in the event of an eclipse.... but hey i'm not an expert, just my thoughts...

Answer 6

Another example of people not being able to visualise what is happening.

If the moon orbits the Earth, and it is pretty much in the same plane as our orbit around the sun, then obviously sometimes the moon is closer to the sun and sometimes further way.

But the difference, as others pointed out, is minimal.

Answer 7

Well, the bright side of the moon does get blisteringly hot, though only the first couple centimeters of the soil is affected. There is essentially no atmosphere, so there are no hot gases around, only the soil gets hot.

The average distance from the moon to the sun is NOT any different from that of the earth itself by the way.

Answer 8

The moon has no atmosphere, therefore heat from the sun can't be held in. However, the *surface* of the moon when it's in direct sunlight can rise as high as 253-degrees Fahrenheit. One inch above the surface though you're in the deep cold of space.

Answer 9

It really isn't a lot closer. We are about 93 million miles from the sun. The moon is about 250,000 miles from us. There's really not much difference between 93,000,000 and 92,750,000 is there?

Answer 10

It gets pretty darn hot and pretty darn cold too:
Mean surface temperature (day) 107°C
Mean surface temperature (night) -153°C
Maximum surface temperature 123°C
Minimum surface temperature -233°C