• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

COVID-19 Lockdown May Have Affected The Surface Of The Moon, NASA Data Shows

October 1, 2024 by Deborah Bloomfield

COVID-19 wrought – and continues to wreak – havoc on the Earth. According to a new study, its effects were not limited to our planet; the surface of the Moon may have been indirectly affected by the resulting lockdown.

Advertisement

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, before vaccines were developed, lockdowns were used by various governments around the world in an attempt to stop or slow the spread of the disease. At one point, at the beginning of April 2020, around half the world’s population had been ordered to stay at home, or were under some sort of curfew. 

This massive change to human life patterns had an immediate effect on wildlife and, of course, our CO2 emissions. Now, thanks to a team investigating lunar night-time surface temperatures, we know that it may have affected the Moon too.

The Moon is tidally locked to Earth, meaning that its rotation speed around its own axis matches the time it takes to orbit around the Earth, and so the near side always faces Earth. The team chose six sites on the surface of the near side, selected to be as flat as possible to limit local effects on temperature as much as possible. Analyzing the Diviner Reduced Data Record from NASA’s PDS Geosciences Node over six years, they found an anomaly.

“Lunar night-time surface temperatures of six different sites on the Moon’s nearside were analysed during the period 2017–2023. Results showed an anomalous dip in the lunar night-time surface temperatures for all the sites during April–May 2020, the strict COVID-19 global lockdown period, when compared to the values of the same period during the previous and subsequent years,” the team explained in their study.

“Since the terrestrial radiation has also showed a significant reduction during that time, the anomalous decrease observed in lunar surface temperatures is attributed to the COVID-19 global lockdown effect. […] The Moon has possibly experienced the effect of COVID-19 lockdown, visualized as an anomalous decrease in lunar night-time surface temperatures during that period.”

Advertisement



Overall, the lunar night temperature difference was around 8–10 Kelvin. The team compared the temperature differences to sunspot activity that could have contributed to such a dip, but found no correlation.

The reason for the dip, according to the team, is the amount of radiation received from the Earth. During the lunar night on the near side, the Moon receives its radiation as it is reflected off the surface of the Earth. As human activities changed, and fewer pollutants were put into our atmosphere, this had a knock-on effect, with less radiation reflected toward the Moon. And so, COVID-19 lockdowns appear to have, inadvertently, briefly made the surface of the Moon colder.

The study is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Hong Kong security chief steps up pressure on city’s main press group
  2. One Identity has acquired OneLogin, a rival to Okta and Ping in sign-on and identity access management
  3. “Starquakes” On Neutron Stars Could Be Source Of Mysterious Fast Radio Bursts
  4. The Smallest Mammal In The World Lived 53 Million Years Ago

Source Link: COVID-19 Lockdown May Have Affected The Surface Of The Moon, NASA Data Shows

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • Martian Mudstone Has Features That Might Be Biosignatures, New Brain Implant Can Decode Your Internal Monologue, And Much More This Week
  • Crocodiles Weren’t All Blood-Thirsty Killers, Some Evolved To Be Plant-Eating Vegetarians
  • Stratospheric Warming Event May Be Unfolding In The Southern Polar Vortex, Shaking Up Global Weather Systems
  • 15 Years Ago, Bees In Brooklyn Appeared Red After Snacking Where They Shouldn’t
  • Carnian Pluvial Event: It Rained For 2 Million Years — And It Changed Planet Earth Forever
  • There’s Volcanic Unrest At The Campi Flegrei Caldera – Here’s What We Know
  • The “Rumpelstiltskin Effect”: When Just Getting A Diagnosis Is Enough To Start The Healing
  • In 1962, A Boy Found A Radioactive Capsule And Brought It Inside His House — With Tragic Results
  • This Cute Creature Has One Of The Largest Genomes Of Any Mammal, With 114 Chromosomes
  • Little Air And Dramatic Evolutionary Changes Await Future Humans On Mars
  • “Black Hole Stars” Might Solve Unexplained JWST Discovery
  • Pretty In Purple: Why Do Some Otters Have Purple Teeth And Bones? It’s All Down To Their Spiky Diets
  • The World’s Largest Carnivoran Is A 3,600-Kilogram Giant That Weighs More Than Your Car
  • Devastating “Rogue Waves” Finally Have An Explanation
  • Meet The “Masked Seducer”, A Unique Bat With A Never-Before-Seen Courtship Display
  • Alaska’s Salmon River Is Turning Orange – And It’s A Stark Warning
  • Meet The Heaviest Jelly In The Seas, Weighing Over Twice As Much As A Grand Piano
  • For The First Time, We’ve Found Evidence Climate Change Is Attracting Invasive Species To Canadian Arctic
  • What Are Microfiber Cloths, And How Do They Clean So Well?
  • Stowaway Rat That Hopped On A Flight From Miami Was A “Wake-Up Call” For Global Health
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version