Reasons why the moon does not fall to Earth

Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

A study says moon slowly moving away from Earth, instead of approaching it or even falling, due to the second gravitational interaction heavenly bodies. This will affect the number of days to be longer.

The study by a team at the University of Wisconsin-Madison says that the gradual separation of the moon from the Earth has a significant effect.

The research shows that the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of around 3.8 centimeters per year, which would have a very noticeable effect on the length of our planet’s days.

In the future, this may cause days on Earth to last longer in the future.

The study shows that 1.4 billion years ago, a day on Earth lasted only 18 hours.

This phenomenon is mainly caused by the gravitational interaction between the Earth and the Moon, especially the tidal forces that both bodies use.

“As the moon moves away, the Earth is like a skater turning and slowing down as they stretch out their arms,” ​​explained Stephen Meyers, professor of geology at University of Wisconsin-Madison and co-author of the published study. June 4 in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

It is said that this research uses a tool, a statistical method, which combines astronomical theory with geological observations (called astrochronology) to look back at the geological history of the Earth, reconstructing the history of the system of solar, and understand ancient climate changes recorded in the rock record. .

“One of our goals is to use astrochronology to determine time in the past, to develop a very old geologic timescale,” Meyers said in his information in 2018.

“We want to be able to study rocks that are billions of years old in a way similar to the way we study geological processes today,” he said.

The movement of the Earth in space is influenced by other astronomical bodies that exert forces on it, such as other planets and the Moon. This helps to determine variations in the Earth’s rotation and movement on its axis, and in the Earth’s orbit around the Sun.

These variations are collectively known as Milankovitch cycles and they determine where the sunlight is distributed on the Earth, which also determines the rhythm of the Earth’s climate.

Scientists like Meyers have seen these climate rhythms in the rock record, spanning hundreds of millions of years.

However, looking further back on the scale of billions of years has been challenging because commonly used geological tools, such as radioisotope dating, do not provide the precision required to mark these rounds.

It is also more complicated due to the lack of knowledge about the history of the moon, and the so-called chaos period of the solar system.

The solar system has many moving parts, including other planets that orbit the sun. Small changes in these moving parts can translate into big changes millions of years later.

This is called the chaos of the Solar System, and trying to explain it is the same thing as trying to study it. butterfly effect behind.

In addition, this research complements two other recent studies that rely on rock records and Milankovitch cycles to better understand the history and behavior of the Earth.

[Gambas:Video CNN]

(rni/dmi)