The giant orb, covered in detailed NASA imagery of the lunar surface, was created by Bristol-based Luke Jerram.
Titled Museum of the Moon, it has been hung temporarily in the Wills Memorial Building to welcome the university's new chancellor Sir Paul Nurse.
Mr Jerram, said: "This is an opportunity for the public to have a close encounter with the moon."
Images taken by a NASA satellite were used by the artist to create the installation.
Each centimetre of the internally-lit spherical structure represents 5km (3 miles) of the moon's surface.
Mr Jerram, who was behind Bristol's 2014 water slide and the globally successful street pianos, said it would give people the chance to "study every detail of its surface" as well as "bathe in moonlight".
"The Great Hall is such an amazing space to present the Museum of the Moon," he said.
The floating artwork, which is illuminated and accompanied by music from different composers, was created in partnership with the University of Bristol and the UK Space Agency.
The Great Hall will be open to the public to view the Museum of the Moon next weekend.
A 7m (23ft) diameter giant replica of the moon has been installed in the University of Bristol's Great Hall.