Covid lockdown impacted the Moon’s temperature, reveals study

A study conducted by two Indian researchers have found evidence that the Covid lockdown in 2020 had a direct impact on the Moon. Researchers K Durga Prasad and G Ambily from Physical Research Laboratory, who cited data from 2017 to 2023, published that the Earth’s natural satellite experience a drop of 8-10 Kelvin in its temperature in 2020.

The study was published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society: Letters. As per The Times of India, the Moon’s surface was the coolest between April-May 2020, which coincides with the strictest lockdown period globally.

The researchers analysed night-time surface temperatures at six different sites-two locations of Oceanus Procellarum, Mare Serenitatis, Mare Imbrium, Mare Tranquillitatis, and Mare Crisium-on Moon’s nearside, TOI reported.

Speaking to the Indian media outlet, Prasad said they analysed data for 12 years, but used figures from the last seven years to have a more balanced spread — three years before the lockdown year, 2020 and the three years thereafter.

The researchers said the Moon cooled down as there was a reduction in radiation from the Earth. With human activity decresing significant during the lockdown, the emission of greenhouse gas was also reduced, which led to the drop in the temperature.

As per the research, the lowest overall temperature was 96.2 K at Site-2 in 2020. While 2020 saw a dip in temperature across months, it started to rise the following year and in 2022, as human activity increased and normalcy was restored.

“Moon acts as an amplifier of Earth’s radiation signature. This unique global event provided us with a rare opportunity to observe how changes in human activity on Earth can affect our nearest celestial neighbour,” Prasad explained.

TOI quoted the research paper as reading: “As an anomalous decrease in lunar night-time surface temperatures during the Covid lockdown period is observed, the effect of other possible factors such as solar activity and seasonal flux variation have also been investigated. Results show that none of these factors have any influence on the observed signature, thus supporting our findings to be only due to Covid lockdown.

The researchers, however, concluded that more data is needed to fully establish the link between Earth’s radiation changes and Moon’s surface temperatures.