Ask yourself the question: what will happen to the Earth if the Moon disappears from the sky? Is this even possible? What consequences will our planet expect? Many will remember the influence of the moon on the ebb and flow. In fact, the influence of our planet's natural satellite is much more serious.
How did the moon come about?
According to the most popular assumption of scientists, some time after the formation of the Earth (about 4.5 billion years), a celestial body the size of a planet hit it tangentially. As a result of the impact, part of the substance of this object and part of the earth's mantle were thrown into near-earth orbit. As a result, the Moon formed from the debris, beginning to orbit with a radius of about 60,000 km.
When can the moon fall to earth?
Since its formation, the Moon has been moving away from our planet every year. Gradually, the rate of receding increased and now it is 3.8 centimeters per year. If so, how can the Moon fall to Earth? Believe it or not, there is an opinion among scientists that such a scenario is possible. Fortunately, this will not happen very soon.
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A couple of years ago, American planetary scientist Jason Barnes said that the moon could fall to Earth in 65 billion years. He explained his opinion by the fact that by that time the speed of rotation of the earth's axis would slow down very much. According to various estimates, this could happen in about 50 billion years, when celestial bodies find themselves in mutual spin-orbital resonance. As a result, the Moon will not move away, but will be attracted to our planet. Interestingly, our Sun can help her in this. How exactly?
In about 5 billion years, our sun will run out of hydrogen, which is the source of energy for stars. Our star will move to a new stage in its evolution, turning into the so-called red giant. The luminosity of the star will increase, the pressure inside it will increase, and the outer shell will begin to expand. The most powerful emissions from the atmosphere of the red giant can quickly change the orbit of the moon, forcing the latter to start slowly moving towards the Earth. But, will there be a collision?
If you think this is a head-to-head collision, as in the video above, then no. It will not be. When, as a result of the approach, the distance between the Moon and the Earth is about 18,000 kilometers (the Roche limit), the tidal interaction of our planet with the satellite will tear it apart into a huge pile of debris. Some of them form a system of rings around the Earth. After a while, the main part of the rings will begin to collapse, and the remnants will collide with the Earth.
In any case, by this time life on Earth will no longer be possible. Like any other planet in the solar system. Even when the Sun turns into a red giant, the star's atmosphere will expand so much that it can reach the current boundaries of the Earth's orbit. Of course, before that, the two planets closest to the Sun, Mercury and Venus, will be completely destroyed.
Let's exclude the presence of a red giant from this chain of events. How will the disappearance of the Moon affect the Earth then?
There would be no solar and lunar eclipses
Without the Moon, there would be no eclipses - there would be no object capable of at least partially covering the solar disk. You can also add that the nights will get darker.
Tidal forces will change
The Moon and the Sun are responsible for the ebb and flow. The reason for these processes is the inhomogeneity of the gravitational field of these celestial bodies, which is expressed in the fact that different gravitational forces act on the same mass of water in different parts of the earth. The disappearance of the moon will lead to the fact that the ebb and flow will significantly weaken, since the sun will become the only celestial body that affects the world's oceans.
The tidal forces of the moon also affect the earth's crust. If the Moon disappears, the main change will be that tectonic and volcanic activity will cease within a few years.
Will the Earth's axis of rotation change?
The influence of the Moon on the stabilization of the Earth's axis of rotation is exaggerated. Although this influence certainly takes place. Previously, it was believed that if the moon disappeared, then the axial rotation of the earth would become completely chaotic. This, in particular, would be expressed in the unpredictable change of seasons.
How will the disappearance of the moon affect animals?
The disappearance of the moon will also greatly affect many species of animals and plants. First of all, the consequences will affect the same marine life, whose life cycle is in one way or another connected with the ebb and flow.
Nikolay Khizhnyak