Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Month slowly away from Earth. At the time of its formation, the Moon was only 22,500 km from Earth, but there are several studies that reveal the distance is increasingly separated now.
British astronomer Edmond Halley first suspected the current Moon was shrinking nearly 300 years ago, after studying ancient eclipse records.
Suspicions were finally confirmed in the 1970s, when laser beams bouncing off mirrors mounted on the Moon by US and Soviet missions showed that it was moving away at a speed of 3.8 centimeters per year.
The distance between the Earth and the Moon is also driven by the effect of the Moon’s gravity on the rotating Earth. The tides in the oceans cause resistance and thus slow the rate of Earth’s rotation.
The effect of the loss of the Moon’s angular momentum makes it move away. The current distance between the Earth and the Moon is 402,336 kilometers, this is 17 times farther than the initial distance.
The moon is now continuously rotating away from Earth at a speed of 3.78 centimeters per year. This is almost similar to the growth rate of a human fingernail.
Moon Formation
In addition, experts estimate the Moon was formed when a proto-planet the size of Mars collided with Earth about 4.5 billion years ago.
The remaining debris merged to form the Moon. Computer simulations predicting such impacts are consistent with the Moon we see in the 21st century.
The distance of the Moon from Earth is mainly due to the action of the Earth’s tides.
The Moon stays in its orbit due to the gravitational force exerted by the Earth, but the Moon also exerts a gravitational force on our planet. This causes the movement of the Earth’s oceans to form the Earth’s tidal path.
Due to the Earth’s rotation, this path is slightly ahead of the Moon’s trajectory. Some of the energy from the rotating Earth will be transferred to the trajectory through friction.
With the rotation, it pushes the trajectory forward and makes the Earth in front of the Moon. This causes the Moon to be pushed into a higher orbit like a faster outer path.
This phenomenon is similar to the experience of a children’s merry-go-round. The faster the circle spins, the stronger the force that throws the player out.
But the energy gained when the Moon is pushed higher is offset by a reduction in the energy of its motion. So the acceleration exerted by Earth’s tides actually slows down the Moon.
Although 3.78 centimeters doesn’t seem like much, in the long term it can affect life on Earth, making the planet slow down.
When the early Earth was formed, the Earth rotated 5 hours per day. But with the moon operating for the last 4.5 billion years, the day has slowed down to the 24 hours we know today, and will continue to slow down in the future.
We can see some evidence of a slowdown in the fossil record of some creatures. By looking at the daily growth of corals for example, we can calculate the number of days that occurred per year in the past period.
From there we can see that the day is getting longer at a rate of 19 hours every 4.5 billion years.
The length of the day, or in other words the rotational speed of the planet, plays a large role in its stability. Just like keeping the plate spinning on a stick, the key is to make the plate spin fast, and if the spin slows down as if it will fall to the floor.
In the same way, as Earth’s rotation begins to slow down, the entire planet begins to slowly wobble and this will have a devastating effect on Earth’s seasons, according to reports. Science Focus.
Currently, some of the seasons on Earth are affected by the tilt of the Earth, which is 23 degrees on its axis.
Quoted BBC, during summer the Northern Hemisphere tilts toward the Sun so that the Northern Hemisphere gets longer days and warmer weather.
In winter, on the other hand, the Northern Hemisphere moves away from the Sun, resulting in shorter days and cooler weather.
Effect of the Moon away from Earth for Humans
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