Researchers studying data from the LADEE (Lunar Atmosphere and Dust Environment Explorer) spacecraft have discovered that the airless moon is surrounded by a thin, asymmetrical dust cloud caused by the high-speed impacts of dust particles from comets.
Full Story: The Moon's Puzzling Dust Cloud Finally Yields an Answer
The lunar cloud's density increases during annual meteor showers. Dust density peaks in the direction of the moon's orbital motion.
Apollo astronauts reported a "horizon glow" around the moon, but the new dust discovery is not dense enough and is too close to the surface to explain those observations.
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