# Is the moon really hollow and other moon observations. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 5, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601 "2017-09-05T23:55:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/21 "2017-09-06T11:54:41Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Every Doctor Who fan knows that the moon is actually an egg. The Doctor Who moon landing was faked! It was all filmed in a studio! Wake up, sheeple! ---
**Author:** ![1iLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/1ileft/32/4114_2.png) [@1iLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/1iLeft)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/22 "2017-09-06T13:25:06Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > …What do you make of this?.. I think someone’s been watching Ancient Aliens - Space Station Moon, a _junk-science_ TV-shit-show. ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/23 "2017-09-06T13:56:02Z")
> [@1iLeft](#): > > I think someone’s been watching Ancient Aliens - Space Station Moon, a _junk-science_ TV-shit-show. Damn … I hope not, that’s where I get the bulk of my information for my newsletter … ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/24 "2017-09-06T14:13:52Z")
This explains a number of the OP’s other posts. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/25 "2017-09-06T14:20:37Z")
> [@Silver\_lining](#): > > For some reason, the craters on the moon whether they are very large or small all seem to have close to the same amount of depth in them. That just does not make sense as the larger the asteroid or comet the deeper the depth should be from impact. The craters on the moon (and any other geologically dead, atmospherless body) are essentially fractal in size–look at a photo of 10,000 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 1,000 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 1,00 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 10 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 1 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 100 square feet of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of a pebble from the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. It makes no sense to say that craters on the moon are the same depth because craters range from pinpricks caused by grains of dust up to over a thousand miles across. But let’s–for the sake of argument–ignore the craters that are smaller than a city. [Aitken Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole%E2%80%93Aitken_basin) is 8 miles deep. Among the most visible craters from Earth are [Tycho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_%28lunar_crater%29) (3 miles deep) and [Copernicus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus_%28lunar_crater%29) (2.34 miles deep.) Apollo 11 landed near [a pair of craters](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/ra8_a030.html) that are around 18 miles across and a bit less than a mile deep. So the depths are not almost the same. [Here](http://www.impact-structures.com/understanding-the-impact-cratering-process-a-simple-approach/) is a good article on how large impact craters form. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/26 "2017-09-06T21:29:38Z")
> [@1iLeft](#): > > I think someone’s been watching Ancient Aliens - Space Station Moon, a _junk-science_ TV-shit-show. Junk-science is giving that show too much credit. Scientainment, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/27 "2017-09-06T22:48:10Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Junk-science is giving that show too much credit. Scientainment, maybe? Alternative Science ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/28 "2017-09-06T22:52:25Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Alternative Science Those are homeopathic craters. The smaller ones are more potent. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/29 "2017-09-06T23:46:37Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > It makes no sense to say that craters on the moon are the same depth because craters range from pinpricks caused by grains of dust up to over a thousand miles across. But let’s–for the sake of argument–ignore the craters that are smaller than a city. [Aitken Basin](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Pole%E2%80%93Aitken_basin) is 8 miles deep. Among the most visible craters from Earth are [Tycho](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tycho_%28lunar_crater%29) (3 miles deep) and [Copernicus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copernicus_%28lunar_crater%29) (2.34 miles deep.) Apollo 11 landed near [a pair of craters](https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/imgcat/html/object_page/ra8_a030.html) that are around 18 miles across and a bit less than a mile deep. So the depths are not almost the same. > > [Here](http://www.impact-structures.com/understanding-the-impact-cratering-process-a-simple-approach/) is a good article on how large impact craters form. And the depths we observe for craters now is almost certainly not the original depth of the craters, anyway, because deeper craters will fill with molten rock, making them shallower than they were originally, and over time, isostasy will tend to lower the edges of the crate and raise the center a bit, as well. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/30 "2017-09-07T00:06:14Z")
> [@dtilque](#): > > It’d actually be unusual if the moon _were not_ tidally locked. I recently wondered how long it would take to become tidally locked and found some approximate equations on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking). Plugging in some numbers and being even more approximate (i.e. I just added and subtracted exponents), I found that if the Moon began at 100,000 Km away (one quarter of its current distance), it would tidally lock in only about 10,000 years. But the function is dependent on the 6th power of the distance, so moving it in or out a bit changes that number rather quickly. Yes, just off hand I seemed to recall that, of the 10 Saturnian Satellites discovered by 1967 (_ **Janus** _, Mimas, Enceladus, Tethys, Dione, Rhea, Titan… ) all but the outer two were tidally locked. From [this list](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking#List_of_known_tidally_locked_bodies), though Iapetus is, and only Phoebe is not. The list as a whole seems incomplete, perhaps because some of the Solar System moons are smallish and relatively newly known, hence not yet confirmed to be tidally locked. The ultimate example, of course is Charon, both tidally locked and _ **locking** _ – of Pluto! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/31 "2017-09-07T10:21:41Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > And the depths we observe for craters now is almost certainly not the original depth of the craters, anyway, because deeper craters will fill with molten rock, making them shallower than they were originally, and over time, isostasy will tend to lower the edges of the crate and raise the center a bit, as well. Yes, that’s the [transient crater](http://www.meteorimpactonearth.com/modification.html). ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/32 "2017-09-07T11:14:58Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yes, that’s the [transient crater](http://www.meteorimpactonearth.com/modification.html). Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Lurking\_Quahog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lurking_quahog/32/21274_2.png) [@Lurking\_Quahog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lurking_Quahog)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/33 "2017-09-07T17:38:29Z")
The moon’s not hollow, it’s filled with piñata candy. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/34 "2017-09-07T17:47:21Z")
> [@Lurking\_Quahog](#): > > The moon’s not hollow, it’s filled with piñata candy. If that’s true, then: A) Why haven’t meteoroids penetrated the shell; B) If the shell _has_ been penetrated, why don’t we know about it? C) Where’s all the candy? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![watchwolf49](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e9c0ed/32.png) [@watchwolf49](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/watchwolf49)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/35 "2017-09-07T17:57:44Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Yes, that’s the [transient crater](http://www.meteorimpactonearth.com/modification.html). Also, because of the lower gravity on the Moon, the cheese underlayment is more fluid … the whey doesn’t get properly drained like here on Earth … ---
**Author:** ![Corner\_Case](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/corner_case/32/234_2.png) [@Corner\_Case](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corner_Case)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/36 "2017-09-07T18:11:11Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > The craters on the moon (and any other geologically dead, atmospherless body) are essentially fractal in size–look at a photo of 10,000 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 1,000 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 1,00 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 10 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 1 square miles of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of 100 square feet of the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Look at a photo of a pebble from the moon’s surface and you’ll see craters that look huge, craters that look medium, and craters that look tiny. Hmm, I’m beginning to sense a pattern here… However, I just can’t afford to check into this. An 8x10 color glossy photograph with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one costs around $3.99. I don’t even want to _think_ of the cost of a 100 square foot color glossy photo, mush less a 10,000 square mile one! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/37 "2017-09-07T18:11:51Z")
There was a sci-fi novel I remember (though the name escapes me) about the moon actually being a huge space station whose crew had mutinied or something and gone to earth to get out of some galactic war. I haven’t heard the bit about the supposed ringing when they crashed the probes…my WAG on that is, like the rest of the OP it’s a misunderstanding of what they were saying. IIRC, the DID actually crash some probes and listen, but they did so in the same way they use seismic charges on earth then listen to the echoes to see what’s below the surface. The tidally locked bit isn’t really that astonishing or noteworthy, and the depth of the craters is just wrong…they aren’t all the same. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/38 "2017-09-07T18:17:04Z")
> [@Corner\_Case](#): > > Hmm, I’m beginning to sense a pattern here… However, I just can’t afford to check into this. An 8x10 color glossy photograph with circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one costs around $3.99. I don’t even want to _think_ of the cost of a 100 square foot color glossy photo, mush less a 10,000 square mile one! So, you came to the realization that it was a typical case of American Blind Astronomy? ---
**Author:** ![Buck\_Godot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buck_godot/32/6573_2.png) [@Buck\_Godot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buck_Godot)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/39 "2017-09-07T23:34:27Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > C) Where’s all the candy? :dubious: NASA’s keeping it all for themselves (the selfish bastards). ---
**Author:** ![Musicat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/musicat/32/20189_2.png) [@Musicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Musicat)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2017, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601/40 "2017-09-07T23:38:27Z")
> [@Buck\_Godot](#): > > NASA’s keeping it all for themselves (the selfish bastards). I know where _I’m_ going for Halloween. Where’s the nearest NASA front door? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-the-moon-really-hollow-and-other-moon-observations/795601.md?page=3)