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Where did Earth's moon come from? And other moon mysteries

During its 1997 flight, the Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Moon. This color picture is a mosaic assembled from 18 images taken by Galileo's imaging system through a green filter.
NASA/JPL/USGS
During its 1997 flight, the Galileo spacecraft returned images of the Moon. This color picture is a mosaic assembled from 18 images taken by Galileo's imaging system through a green filter.

All summer long, Short Wave has been on a 10-episode odyssey through the changing universe. We've covered planets, stars, life in space and even the possible ends of the universe.

But there was one big set of objects that we skipped over: moons.

So now we're back, with a special guest appearance from Radiolab's Latif Nasser, to talk about yes, our moon — and the many moons and quasi-moons beyond it. Where did our Moon come from? How many moons are out there? What's this "quasi-moon" of which we speak and why is it "dancing" around space?

Also, Latif tells us about Radiolab's quasi-moon naming contest. Read all the details and submit a name here!

Lunar questions or otherwise celestial musings you think we should cover? We'd love to hear about it! You can reach us by emailing shortwave@npr.org.

Listen to Short Wave on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.

This episode was produced by Hannah Chinn and edited by Rebecca Ramirez. It was fact checked by Regina, Hannah, and Emily. Maggie Luthar was the audio engineer. Julia Carney is our Space Camp project manager. Beth Donovan is our senior director. Collin Campbell is our Senior Vice President of Podcasting Strategy.

Special thanks to our friends at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, Home of Space Camp®.

Copyright 2024 NPR

Regina G. Barber
Regina G. Barber is Short Wave's Scientist in Residence. She contributes original reporting on STEM and guest hosts the show.
Emily Kwong (she/her) is the reporter for NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. The podcast explores new discoveries, everyday mysteries and the science behind the headlines — all in about 10 minutes, Monday through Friday.
Hannah Chinn
Rebecca Ramirez (she/her) is the founding producer of NPR's daily science podcast, Short Wave. It's a meditation in how to be a Swiss Army Knife, in that it involves a little of everything — background research, finding and booking sources, interviewing guests, writing, cutting the tape, editing, scoring ... you get the idea.