Buzz Aldrin left Playboy on the moon?

[snopes]

Comment: A few sites -and a popular teeshirt- state that Buzz Aldrin left
a copy of Playboy behind on the moon. The references I find on the
internet to this legend seem to point to themselves as references.

[diddy]

Given the extreme weight restrictions and also given the fact that he spent his time on the moon in such a bulky suit, I kinda doubt that this is true.

I mean, why bring it to the surface? Paper products wouldn't last very long.

[Tootsie Plunkette]

It's not mentioned in his warts-and-all autobiography.

[videoguy]

Photocopies of centerfolds were brought along on Apollo 12, but Buzz wasn't one of the astronauts.

Pictures here:
http://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a12/a12_cdrcuff.pdf

Here's what Wiki says:

The Apollo 12 backup crew managed to insert into the astronaut's lunar checklist (attached to the wrists of Conrad's and Bean's spacesuits) reduced sized pictures of Playboy centerfolds, surprising Conrad and Bean when they looked through the checklist flip-book during their first EVA.[10] The Apollo Lunar Surface Journal website contains a PDF file with the photocopies of their cuff checklists showing these photos.[11] The checklists also contain two pages of pre-prepared complex geological terminology at the back, to be used for the confusion of the ground crew.

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by diddy

Paper products wouldn't last very long.

Why not? It is a vacuum and it is alternately cold and hot. Nothing that paper would have a problem with. If he did leave a magazine it would still be intact. The only thing that could possible have bothered it would have been the rocket wash from the accent stage's engine. And even that is unlikely to have done anything since the thrust was fairly weak.

[GenYus234]

Paper left outside in the sun in Arizona quickly turns very brittle. On the moon, with no atmosphere to block the UV radiation, the disintegration would presumably be faster.

[jimmy101_again]

Originally Posted by GenYus234

Paper left outside in the sun in Arizona quickly turns very brittle. On the moon, with no atmosphere to block the UV radiation, the disintegration would presumably be faster.

On earth, the paper burns, albeit very slowly, in full sun. In a vacuum it won't burn since there isn't any oxidizer (e.g., oxygen) about. UV degradation might take place but in the absence of wind the top couple layers of paper would degrade and then that layer of decomposed stuff would protect the paper below it.

Stuff degrades on earth mostly because of the action of oxygen+sun and the mechanical action of wind and rain. On the moon you don't have two of those three things. Degradation will occur but it won't be like what happens on earth.