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RayaHope's avatar

Could the moon be hollow?

Asked by RayaHope (7448points) August 5th, 2022

Some say that the moon could be hollow or even an extraterrestrial-made object deliberately put into the Earth’s orbit millions of years ago. Is this crazy or something from the “tinfoil hat” groups?

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33 Answers

elbanditoroso's avatar

I’d like a little more proof than “some say” before I take it seriously.

How would “some people” know?

gorillapaws's avatar

The bigger the claim the more substantial the proof necessary to support it.

We can calculate the mass, and size of the moon, so that means we can calculate it’s density. If it were hollow, that would mean the outer shell must be made out of some extremely dense material. That raises it’s own serious questions.

HP's avatar

Hollow? Since we know the moon’s diameter as well as the fact that its gravity is 1/6th our own, the resulting mass is readily obtained along with its density. Since the arrival of Newton most of these were accurately gauged simply from the moon’s orbital characteristics and tidal influences on the earth.

HP's avatar

That video has some REALLY BIG bloopers discrediting its speculations.

filmfann's avatar

The moon is a balloon?
No. A hollow Moon doesn’t work.

RayaHope's avatar

@HP I’m not saying that I believe all this either, but he does seem to make a lot of good points. Obviously, I’m no astrophysicist or NASA employee;)

Kropotkin's avatar

The density of the moon is known extremely accurately and isn’t a mystery.

Not only is the density of the moon known, but so is the distribution of its mass, and it is denser in the centre (therefore not hollow).

The impact hypothesis for the creation of the moon is the dominant and most plausible hypothesis for its formation with many lines of evidence.

I’ve only stomached 8 minutes, and the video is riddled with misleading claims, or just outright inaccurate ones. I’m genuinely tired of ignorance being popularised.

smudges's avatar

HA! No, the moon’s not hollow. Christ, what’ll they come up with next?!

jca2's avatar

There has been speculation that the moon is made out of cheese, too:

https://www.amazon.com/Moon-Made-Cheese-Chris-Kjorness/dp/1540786404

HP's avatar

@RayaHope this is more akin to Ancient Alien type speculation and a rather stark illustration to the down side of youtube. There are glaring errors and mistatements right from the outset, and with every premise presented. Pick any one of them, beginning with the preposterous idea that there may be civilizations predating the arrival of the moon, or that it is peculiar that the moon’s orbit is nearly circular, or that it is somehow odd that the moon’s rotation is locked to exactly the period of its orbit around us. Talk to any geologist about how long the moon has been around and how it clearly was much closer and is still moving away. No actual scientist is going to sit still for this embarassing video.

Kropotkin's avatar

There are loads of really good science channels on YouTube, with real scientists, citing real research, formulating coherent arguments, being careful to avoid speculation, and don’t do this “I’m just trying to find the truth” rhetorical stance where the most outlandish bullshit gets entertained as plausible.

This “The Why Files” guy is a complete sensationalist charlatan who doesn’t know what he’s talking about, and doesn’t know how to assess the information he does find.

zenvelo's avatar

The Moon isn’t hollow, but Earth is.

eyesoreu's avatar

It couldn’t.
Uranus could be though…

RayaHope's avatar

@eyesoreu I know you are being silly :)

eyesoreu's avatar

@RayaHope Silly? Moi?
What an outrageous suggestion ;-}

RayaHope's avatar

@eyesoreu YOU?! No never what was I thinking. LOL!

flutherother's avatar

Your source is “some people say” but you should remember that some people are stark staring mad.

RayaHope's avatar

@flutherother Yes, I ran into one just today!

canidmajor's avatar

@zenvelo, I am more partial to Burroughs’ Pellucidar.

RedDeerGuy1's avatar

~Only if it is made of Swiss cheese, and then only partially.

gondwanalon's avatar

Our moon isn’t hollow but I’m sure that the History Channel could make a ten part series on an investigation to prove it is.

Nomore_Tantrums's avatar

According to who? Those Ancient Aliens dudes?

RayaHope's avatar

@Nomore_Tantrums In tinfoil hats lol

kritiper's avatar

No. It is thought the moon came to be as a orbital planet of Earth after a collision with Earth.
Also, with all of the large craters on the moon, it would have shattered long ago.

Blackwater_Park's avatar

It’s not hollow, there are space Nazi’s living on the dark side though.

RayaHope's avatar

@Blackwater_Park Well as long as they stay up there we’ll be okay! :)

flutherother's avatar

The insanity that radiates from my monitor when viewing videos like this can cause sunburn.

RocketGuy's avatar

Or brain damage.

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