Once a month, as the Moon orbits Earth, it passes through this magnetotail for about five days, where it is then bombarded by a stream of terrestrial ions traveling down the magnetotail.

Essentially, as the solar wind blows past Earth, it stretches the magnetic field into a tail-like shape called the magnetotail.

During this window, the Moon acts like a sponge, soaking up oxygen, nitrogen, and hydrogen ions that have escaped from the upper atmosphere of the Earth.

Findings from the simulations revealed that for about 5 days every month, the Moon passes through the magnetotail, a long tail of the magnetic field of the Earth stretched by solar wind.