Astronomers watch the Moon’s atmosphere breathe

The Moon’s tenuous atmosphere changes, expanding and contracting depending on its exposure to the Sun and to meteor showers, astronomers have discovered.

“We were able to watch the Moon breathe,” said the study’s lead author Dr Anthony Colaprete from NASA’s Ames Research Centre in California.

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> The Moon’s tenuous atmosphere changes, expanding and contracting depending on its exposure to the Sun

Yep. This has been known since the days of Apollo. The predominant effect of the Sun is to ionise the gas and dust of the surface causing the atmosphere to expand. At night it contracts back again.