Earth rotation can slow down until it is synchronized with the moon. By this time, our natural satellite would stop distancing itself and it would only be possible to see it on one side of the earth. But two things will prevent this from happening.
The moon is becoming 3.8 centimeters farther from Earth each year. Scientists measure the distance to the moon reflecting lasers on mirrors placed there by space probes and astronauts. By measuring the time the light takes to travel to the moon and return, scientists can very accurately measure the distance to the moon and how this distance changes.
The distance to the moon changes over a single month as it orbits the earth. The moon is usually 385,000 km away from Earth, but its orbit is not a perfect circle and changes about 20,000 km as the earth orbits. This change is why some full moons are slightly larger than others; are the calls superluas.
Earth and moon movements have many interesting consequences, and study how they move over time can help better understand how each has changed over 4.5 billion years since Earth and Moon have formed.
By force of the tids
So why is the moon away? Everything is due to the tides. The tides result from a difference in gravity in an object. The strength of gravity exerted by the moon is about 4% stronger On the side of the earth, compared to the opposite side of the earth, because gravity weakens with the distance.
This force of the tides causes the oceans to move in two bulges that point to the moon and away from it. This is because the gravitational force that the moon exerts on earth is not just an average force with the same intensity everywhere. The severity of the moon is stronger on the nearest side of the Earth, creating a waterproof water that points to the moon. It is weaker on the opposite side of the earth, which leaves another waterproof that is behind the rest of the earth.
As the Earth rotates, these protuberances move and continue to point to the moon due to its gravitational attraction. These liquid protuberances do not align perfectly with the moon-‘anticipate’ a little, because the earth is spinning and dragging them forward, and also exerting a gravitational attraction over the moon. The closest to the moon is not only pulling the moon toward the center of the earth, but also a little ahead in its orbit-as the impulse that a sports car receives.
This attraction to the front caused by the nearest tides protuberance causes the moon to accelerate, which causes the size of its orbit to increase.
Therefore, the end result is that the severity of the tide protuberance closest to the earth is pulling the moon forward, which increases the size of the moon orbit. This means that the moon is a little further from the earth. This effect is very gradual and can only be detected on average over the years.
Does increasing moon distance affect the earth?
The moon gains impulse as its orbit gets bigger. Imagine that it is rotating a weight attached to a rope. The longer the rope is, the more impulse the weight will have and the harder it will be to stop it.
Since Earth is increasing the moon’s impetus, the rotation of the earth decreases as its impulse goes to the moon. In other words, as the orbital impetus of the moon increases, the rotational impulse of the earth decreases and causes the day get a little longer.
But don’t worry: these effects are very small. 3.8 cm per year compared to a distance of 384 000 km is only 0.00000001% per year. We will continue to have eclipses, tides and days that last 24 hours for millions of years.
Was the moon closer to us in the past?
Earth days were shorter in the past. The moon probably graduated about 4.5 billion years ago, when a young land was hit by a Mars-size protoplanet, causing a lot of material to be launched into space. Eventually, this material formed the moon, which was initially much closer to Earth. At that time, the moon looked much bigger in the sky.
By examining fossilized shells of mollusks in search of material showing their daily growth patterns, paleontologists found evidence that, 70 million years ago – near the end of the dinosaur age – the day was only 23.5 hoursexactly as foreseen by astronomical data.
What will happen in the future?
After all, will the moon end up escaping the gravitational attraction of the earth as it moves away?
If we advance tens of thousands of millions of years in the future, eventually Earth rotation may slow down until it is synchronized with the moon. This means that the earth would take the same time to rotate that the moon takes to orbit: The moon would no longer distance itself and it would only be possible to see it on one side of the earth.
But two things will prevent this from happening. First, in millions of years, the sun will be brighter and evaporate the oceans. So there will be no major water ripples to get the moon away. A few million years later, the sun will expand and become a red giant, probably destroying the earth and the moon.
But these events are so distant in the future that they don’t have to worry about them. Enjoy the tides on the beach, the solar eclipses and our beautiful moon, because they will never disappear while you are here.
