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I have a confusion about the first few bars of Moonlight Sonata

http://www.mutopiaproject.org/ftp/BeethovenLv/O27/moonlight/moonlight-a4.pdf

I understand that it's in C # minor, but it looks like in the first bar there are 4 sets of 3 eight notes which would be 12/8

But for the bass note, it's just two whole notes together

How do we account for the time difference? Thanks

Read this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuplet

Since the 3 is only over the first group, does that mean it is the only triplet?

All of the groups of three eighth notes are triplets, including the groups of two eighth notes preceded by an eighth rest, in bars 29, 31, 66 and 67.

If it were written in 12/8 time, you would have 4 beats per measure, and those half notes in m. 3 also express that. The half notes in m. 3 work well with that. The neat and tidy rules we learn in music theory don't always work in real life, since a composer's vision goes beyond neat and tidy rules. The best way to express what he had in mind was with that time signature, and the triplets.

But would it really work well?

The half-notes (in LH, measure three) come on the first and third beat. In 12/8 time, you could not notate them as half notes (because in 12/8, you would need three half notes to fill the measure, not two). You would have to notate them as dotted half notes.

Similar the other measures: Measure 1 currently has a full note (in LH). In 12/8 it would need a dotted full note. Measure 12 you would have to notate as "dotted-quarter, dotted-quarter, dotted-half". Measure 18 as four dotted-quarters, etc.

The "real" half notes (and full notes, and quarter notes) in the LH are arguably easier to read than their dotted counterparts that you would need in 12/8 time, so for this movement, the 2/2 time combined with triplet-eighths actually makes more sense, notation wise. So in my opinion, it actually is quite neat and tidy, and not just a quirk of the composer's vision.

In light of the linked explanation characterizing these as irrational rhythm ..... abnormal ..... irregular , etc... your confusion is understandable. It was not too many months past when I confronted the same oddity and remember well asking my instructor. As it turns out,the practice piece that came with the introduction of "triplet" concept turned out to be, currently, my favorite, so I got over this irrgularity in short order. The fact that your score notes only the first triplet with a "3" is generally because you are to figure out the recurring pattern as additional triplets appear in the piece. Good luck with Moonlight, it is the last challenge piece in book 2 of 2 in my beginners course book and I have not arrived there, yet, but I look forward to this.