Is the moon spinning off into space? Would it be better nearer or further away?

[MichaeltheGreat]

Originally posted by Jaguar Warrior

For some reason I find that sad. We're gonna have to kill our own moon in self defense.

That would be even nastier. One of the biggest reasons that the glancing collision hypothesis was finally adopted for the origins of the moon is that it's the best explanation for the rather large difference between the earth's surface rotation and the rotation of the earth's core. The difference between magnetic pole and rotational axis, plus the degree of wobble in the earth's rotation, would make for a tectonically and climatologically really, really nasty place.

[Lancer]

We could cause the moon to spin again using a couple of Death Star engines. If we got it to spin really fast, the Earth would speed up too? Does the deal work the other way round?

[MichaeltheGreat]

You'd be real hard pressed to keep it in a stable orbit. (speed is a function of orbital distance.) You'd just mess up the surface, too.

[Lancer]

You just leave that to me.

[Eli]

So we're doomed?

[Lancer]

Yup

[MichaeltheGreat]

Screwed silly.

[Lancer]

Put that way, it doesn't sound so bad.

[MichaeltheGreat]

Like all of astronomy, it depends on the objects involved.

[Lancer]

[monolith94]

If this were even just ten million years away, I'm sure that human technology could in at most a million years have figured out a way to solve the problem...

[MichaeltheGreat]

Unless conservation laws are wrong, (for which there's absolutely no evidence, and we use them all the time), there simply is no solution.

We wouldn't be here at all, in all likelihood, if the moon hadn't gotten formed when some other now departed Mars-like planet played got to play billiard ball with the earth, courtesy of Jupiter.

[Lancer]

Balls. Random stellar billiards brought this about, people will bring about a fix.

[Ben Kenobi]

So if you've got two black holes, with diameters of a few centimeters, you have to be patient.

Thanks for the improved explanation, MtG.

One effect of the Moon slowly drifting away from the earth is that there will eventually be no eclipses of the sun.

So if you are an eclipse hunter, it is bad for the moon to move farther away from the sun.

[Dauphin]

Originally posted by MichaeltheGreat


There's two places the energy goes from the braking of the earth's rotation - one is change in the moon's orbital distance, the other is heat here on the earth. Unless you like hot steam baths, earth won't be a nice place.

I don't see your point there. The Earth has been slowing down its rotation rate since the first moonrise. Its not heated up at any noticeable rate, and I don't see why it would start now.