Afathom is a unit of length about 6 ft long commonly used in measuring depths of water. because a fathom is about the length of two outspread arms, it should not be surprising that it derives its name from the viking word for embrace. assuming that the distance to the moon is about 4 ✕ 10^8 m, the distance to the moon in fathoms is about -3 ✕ 10^8 fathoms -4 ✕ 10^8 fathoms -2 ✕ 10^8 fathoms -8 ✕ 108 fathoms