The moon moves away from the Earth every year (and there is nothing we can do)

You may not have noticed, but the Moon save from U.S. Yes, our satellite, formed billions of years ago as a result of an object called Chai hitting the Earth, is moving a little further away from us every year. In particular, the radius of its orbit increases by approximately 3.78 cm per year.

This information may make you a little dizzy at first, because, after all, without the presence of the Moon there would be almost no tides in the seas, the days would be of different lengths and we ourselves might not be here.

NATURAL PROCESS

However, you shouldn’t worry. The Moon has been moving away from the Earth since its creation, and although 3.78 centimeters seems like a fast speed, it is not.

12 important facts about the Moon

One must think that at the time when the Moon appeared and settled in its orbit around the Earth, according to scientists, it was at a distance of about 22,500 km, while at present its magnitude is 384,400 km. That is,It was almost 17 times closer!

For this reason, it is estimated that about 1.4 billion years ago, a day lasted only 18 hours and, logically, life on the planet was completely different from what we know today.

But why does this curious effect occur? Well, to explain this, we need to remember third law of motion Newton, who states that when one body exerts a force on another, the second also generates a force directed towards the first, of equal magnitude and opposite direction.

In other words: if you press on a wall with your hand, the wall will also exert an equal force on your hand. Does anything else sound familiar to you? This is a famous phenomenon action and reaction.

Newton is much more than a simple physicist

HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN?

In the context of the Earth and the Moon, we must keep in mind that when our planet rotates, it encounters great friction force generated by the oceans and seas that cover it, and this causes it to spin on its axis more slowly over time.

Now, since the Earth and the Moon are gravitationally connected and for every action there is a reaction, the movement on the Earth slows down, and the movement of the Moon accelerates. As a result of this acceleration, centrifugal force increases, which pull out the satellitegradually separating it from planet Earth.

However, the drift is so subtle that, at least during your lifetime and the lives of your children or grandchildren, the possible changes will not be noticeable, and even if the Earth continues to slow down, the possible consequences will take time. will appear in billions of years.

In fact, it is estimated that long before this happens, the Sun will reach an advanced age, expand, and become a red giant that will engulf a large portion of the Solar System, including the Earth and Moon.

How the Moon and Sun influence the movement of the oceans

HOW IS IT MEASURED?

Data reflecting this distancing phenomenon have been collected since 1969, when NASA Apollo program, man stepped on the moon. On three missions between that year and 1972, astronauts left a number of reflectors strategically placed as if they were small mirrors lined up in a row.

Thus, since then, astronomers have devoted themselves to firing various beams of laser beams at them. Knowing the speed at which the laser moves and the time it takes it takes time to leave and come back from the Earth to the Moon, they can easily calculate the distance at which the satellite is from us.

Moreover, the advantage of this method is that it provides excellent accuracy when measuring, achieving measurements with an error of millimeters, which made it easy to detect this deviation from the order of centimeters.