The moon is slowly moving away from the earth. This distance can have a negative effect on life on Earth. But it will take millions of years (many billions) for this to happen.
From Earth’s point of view, the moon is here at this size all the time. It doesn’t go any further. Tens of thousands of years ago, Kate was somewhere far away, right?
Scientists believe the moon formed about 4,500 million years ago.
At that time, an asteroid about the size of Mars crashed into the Earth, and the remaining pieces were gathered together to form the Moon. Using a computer to calculate is found to be consistent with this concept.
According to computer calculations, the moon was only 22,500 kilometers (14,000 miles) away from Earth when it formed. Yes, It’s not written wrong, sir. Fourteen thousand miles.
For comparison, the Earth is only 7,918 miles in diameter. It was that close. Now, the distance between the moon and the earth is about 250,000 miles (402,336 km).
The Moon is moving away from Earth at a rate of 3.78 cm (1.48 inches) per year. This rate is the same as the rate at which our fingers elongate.
If the Moon is too far away and falls outside the Earth’s gravitational pull, it can escape from the Earth’s orbit. If this moon is gone, it can have negative effects on the world. In particular, the world’s speed will slow down, and the stability of the world’s structure may be affected.
So why is the moon running away from Earth?
The answer is because of the tides on the earth.
The Moon is pulled into the Earth’s orbit by the Earth’s gravity. The Earth’s gravity affects the Moon, and the Moon’s gravity affects the Earth. Due to this gravity, the tides in the world fluctuate.
The time of high tide is slightly earlier than the position of the moon due to the rotation of the earth. Some of the energy generated by the Earth’s rotation is transferred into the tides. How it’s transferred is that the energy comes from the frictional force caused by the tidal movement.