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Moon

The Moon

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.

Type
Moon
Domain
Scientific connections
Connections
51

NASA/Caltech-JPL/MIT/SRS · NASA media (public domain)

Graben on the Moon
Graben on the Moon · NASA

Experience system V6

Satellite world profile

A moon-first layout that links the body to its parent planet, orbital context, geology, and mission evidence when available.

Moon orbitSurface factsParent-body relationMission links
  1. 01

    Observe

    NASA imagery anchors the visual reading with licensed source metadata.

  2. 02

    Measure

    Numerical fields come from the typed Solar System catalog and are omitted when not available.

  3. 03

    Locate

    Child of Earth.

  4. 04

    Connect

    51 graph relations shape the knowledge viewport.

Object type
Moon
Graph relations
51
Verified sources
1
Image records
4
Domain
Scientific connections
Status
Graph entity

Scientific map

Orbit context

EarthThe MoonCatalog position context
Primary orbital anchor
Earth
Measured orbit field
Orbital distance not recorded in this graph record

Original SVG diagram

Interior and field cues

Structure cuesOuter envelope / surfaceInterior layerCore region1,738 km radius
Atmosphere
Not recorded
Mean temperature
Not recorded
Gravity
Not recorded
Magnetic field
Not recorded
ALHA 81005Apollo 11Apollo 11 Lands t...Apollo 13Apollo 17Apollo 17, the La...Apollo 8Apollo 8 Orbits t...Artemis IArtemis I Flies A...Artemis IIArtemis IIIThe MoonMoon

Image provenance

Photography as evidence

4 cleared visual records

Continue the atlas

Curated next objects

Observation

How this was captured

Source
NASA
Observation date
2012-03-22

Gallery

Wrinkle Ridges on the Moon

Scientists have discovered these wrinkle ridges in a region of the Moon called Mare Frigoris.

2019

NASA · NASA media (public domain)

Source archive ↗

Data

Scientific data & provenance

Data & provenance

Stable ID
moon:the-moon
Type
Moon
Domain
Scientific connections
Relationships
51
Graph version
1.0.0

Dataset membership

Open data

In the graph export: graph.json · graph.jsonld

Planned API: GET /api/v0/entities/moon:the-moon

Scientific quality

Substantial
Reviewed1 sourcev1.0.0

5 of 6 applicable dimensions complete, 1 partial

Description
Complete
Source coverage
Partial
Relationship coverage
Complete
Review coverage
Complete
Citation coverage
Complete
Image coverage
Complete
Timeline coverage
Not applicable

Scientific entity. Dimensions that cannot apply to this object are excluded rather than counted as gaps. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.

Provenance & sources

review 2026.1

Asteria Scientific Review Process · verification: sourced · accurate

  • High evidenceconfirmed

    The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth-largest moon in the Solar System; it is tidally locked, always presenting the same face to Earth.

    Source: NASA (NSSDCA) — NASA Planetary Fact Sheet · Public domain (US Government work)

Reviewed by the internal Asteria Scientific Review Process — not an external institutional review. See the evidence framework and authority dashboard.

Scientific citations

5

Real, source-backed references — primary papers first, then datasets and institutional sources. Formatted through the citation engine; nothing is fabricated.

  • NASA Goddard — NSSDCA

    Cite (APA / BibTeX)
    NASA Goddard — NSSDCA (n.d.). Moon Fact Sheet. NASA Goddard — NSSDCA. https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html
    
    @misc{cite:factsheet-moon-the-moon,
      title        = {Moon Fact Sheet},
      organization = {NASA Goddard — NSSDCA},
      year         = {n.d.},
      url          = {https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html},
      note         = {Physical and orbital parameters for Moon.}
    }
  • NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Caltech)

    Cite (APA / BibTeX)
    NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Caltech) (n.d.). JPL Horizons System. NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Caltech). https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/
    
    @misc{cite:jpl-horizons,
      title        = {JPL Horizons System},
      organization = {NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (Caltech)},
      year         = {n.d.},
      url          = {https://ssd.jpl.nasa.gov/horizons/},
      note         = {Authoritative Solar System ephemerides — the reference standard for high-precision Moon position (not fetched in v1).}
    }
  • NASA

    Cite (APA / BibTeX)
    NASA (n.d.). Earth's Moon — NASA Science. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/moon/
    
    @misc{cite:nasa-moon,
      title        = {Earth's Moon — NASA Science},
      organization = {NASA},
      year         = {n.d.},
      url          = {https://science.nasa.gov/moon/},
      note         = {NASA overview of the Moon: phases, the synodic month, and lunar facts.}
    }
  • NASA

    Cite (APA / BibTeX)
    NASA (n.d.). Moon — NASA Solar System Exploration. NASA. https://science.nasa.gov/
    
    @misc{cite:nasa-moon-the-moon,
      title        = {Moon — NASA Solar System Exploration},
      organization = {NASA},
      year         = {n.d.},
      url          = {https://science.nasa.gov/},
      note         = {NASA overview of Moon.}
    }
  • United States Naval Observatory

    Cite (APA / BibTeX)
    United States Naval Observatory (n.d.). USNO Astronomical Applications Department. United States Naval Observatory. https://aa.usno.navy.mil/
    
    @misc{cite:usno-astronomical-applications,
      title        = {USNO Astronomical Applications Department},
      organization = {United States Naval Observatory},
      year         = {n.d.},
      url          = {https://aa.usno.navy.mil/},
      note         = {Solar and lunar coordinates, phase, and rise/set/twilight/transit methodology (the Astronomical Almanac); the public-domain formulae behind the computed Moon phase, the computed Sun & twilight times, and the computed moonrise/moonset and lunar position.}
    }

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Sources & references

The primary and reference sources this topic draws on.

  • NASANational Aeronautics and Space Administration

    Mission data, planetary science, space telescopes, and public-domain imagery.

    Most NASA-produced imagery is in the public domain; individual items are checked for usage terms before publication.