What's the Temperature on the Moon?

Astrophotographer Colin Chatfield obtained this full moon photo in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, February 7, 2012. CREDIT: Colin Chatfield View full size image

Temperatures on the moon are very hot in the daytime, about 100 degrees C. At night, the lunar surface gets very cold, as cold as minus 173 degrees C.

This wide variation is because Earth’s moon has no atmosphere to hold in heat at night or prevent the surface from getting so hot during the day.

A single "day" on the moon lasts about 28 Earth days, meaning the lunar daytime is nearly two Earth weeks long.

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