Will magnetic compasses work on the moon?

As many have already stated, a compass on the moon would work rather poorly due to the fact that the moon has a very weak magnetic field. The compass that you have may move slightly or just not at all, but more likely that it will move in the direction of the most magnetic rock in the general vicinity. read more

No, the Moon has no significant magnetic field like the Earth does. A compass would not be useful there. I think this is more interesting when we get to other compass types. Gyro compasses may or may not, depending on if the moon's rotation is enough to interact properly with a standard earth model. It does spin a lot slower than 1 day/rotation. read more

In other words, if you took a compass to the moon, it might just point south because there's a magnetic meteor south of you, or it might be east or north or west for the same reason. Of the planets, only Mercury, Earth, and the gas giants have magnetic fields. read more