Have you ever wondered what would happen if the moon were the same distance from our planet as the International Space Station? If you're curious about the answer, a wonderful YouTube channel called Yeti dynamics has produced a video (in English, but with great graphics) that perfectly demonstrates the effect we would notice if the moon were much closer to the Earth's surface.
Distance
Suppose our faithful planetary satellite was not at the usual distance of 380 thousand kilometers, but only "two steps away", that is, 420 kilometers from us.
At this short distance, the moon would rise in the west and set in the east. At its usual distance, the Moon rotates slightly slower than the Earth, and therefore rises in the east and sets in the west. If it were as close as the ISS, the speed of its rotation around the Earth would accelerate significantly.
Effect
Promotional video:
The size of the ISS diagonally is an insignificant 109 meters, which is why, even being so close to the surface, it is visible in the telescope only as a small spot. The size of the moon, in turn, is an impressive three and a half thousand kilometers in diameter. At the same distance as the ISS, the moon would dominate the sky.
According to astronomer Phil Plate, at this close distance, the Moon will occupy half of the sky. In addition, we will think that the Moon is rotating, despite the fact that it would still be in synchronous rotation or tidal capture, that is, turned to the Earth by only one side.
At such a small distance from the Earth, the Moon would make a whole revolution around our planet in just an hour and a half.
Real consequences
In fact, according to experts, if our satellite were so close to Earth, the consequences would be catastrophic. To begin with, due to the force of gravity, it would fall apart, and these parts could cause serious harm to the planet, not to mention the fact that we would lose our familiar satellite, on which many physical processes on Earth depend.
No matter how curious it is to imagine the moon covering half of the sky, perhaps it is worth leaving it where it belongs.
Hope Chikanchi