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The atmosphere of the Moon is very tenuous and insignificant in comparison with that of the Earth. One source of the lunar atmosphere is outgassing: the release of gases such as radon that originate from radioactive decay within the crust and mantle. Another important source is the bombardment of the lunar surface by micrometeorites, the solar wind, and sunlight, in a process known as sputtering.[1] Gases that are released by sputtering can either:
The elements sodium (Na) and potassium (K) have been detected using Earth-based spectroscopic methods, whereas the element radon-222 and polonium-210 have been inferred from data obtained by the Lunar Prospector alpha particle spectrometer.[2] Argon-40, helium-4, oxygen and/or methane (CH4), nitrogen gas (N2) and/or carbon monoxide (CO), and carbon dioxide (CO2) were detected by in-suit detectors placed by the Apollo astronauts.[3]
The Moon may also have a tenuous "atmosphere" of electrostatically-levitated dust. See moon dust for more details.
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