What would happen if a nuclear warhead were detonated on the moon? Any ill effects? Would it look the same?

Question

What would happen if a nuclear warhead were detonated on the moon? Any ill effects? Would it look the same?

Answer 1

Compared to many of the impacts the moon has sustained from asteroids, a nuclear warhead would be like shooting an elephant with a b-b gun.

Answer 2

If it was big enough to alter its orbit then earth would be in big doo doo.

Answer 3

it matters on how big an explosion. you would probably have a flash of light and that's about it.

Answer 4

Other than a new crater, not much else would be different.

Answer 5

New crater.  A small part of the Moon would become dangerously radioactive, but since there's no wind or atmosphere to speak of, the fallout would not spread as far as it would on Earth.  

The explosion would look different as there's no atmosphere for the explosion to billow up through.  The "mushroom cloud" would probably not form and the explosion would be more spherical.  

Also since there's no oxygen, there'd be no ancillary fire damage.

Answer 6

The moon isnt all that much smaller than earth...if we are "safe" to do it here..."safe" to do it on the moon.  We would have to worry about radioactive fallout if we ever wanted to colonize that part of the moon anytime soon though...