[solvegas]

 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Perhaps we should change Venus' name to .... HELL! 

Yup.  Don’t forget that the atmospheric pressure at ground level  will crush you in an instant.

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Frankly, I thought it would seem much bigger. 

yeti dynamics, January 2013: "If the Moon were replaced with some of our planets"

Interesting. I do know that due to the huge mass differences, Earth would become another Moon of Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune and Uranus. Mars could be another Moon for Earth and so could Venus. The tidal waves on Earth would be much larger than they are now. Our planet would be much different than it is now. Frankly, we are lucky about our position in the solar system and the size and mass of Earth.

It’s not just our position in the solar system, it’s the amount of time since the Moon formed.  When the Moon was first created, it orbited so close that the tidal forces created lava flows on both Mother Earth and satellite.  Here’s a cool pic of what the Moon looks like today, on the right, and how close it was when it first formed—just for size comparison.

[solvegas]

The Moon is drifting away from Earth an average of 3.78 centimeters, or 1.48 inches, which causes our days to elongate due to gravitational forces that both the Moon and Earth have on each other. When the Moon first formed 4.5 billion years ago after catastrophic impact from a proto planet on Earth, the Moon formed and at the time the average day on Earth was 5 hours. As time goes, the Moon's drift has actually slowed down Earth's rotational speed and could be catastrophic for life on Earth. Of course, we are talking about billions of years, so none of us should worry too much about it. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

The Moon is drifting away from Earth an average of 3.78 centimeters, or 1.48 inches, which causes our days to elongate due to gravitational forces that both the Moon and Earth have on each other. When the Moon first formed 4.5 billion years ago after catastrophic impact from a proto planet on Earth, the Moon formed and at the time the average day on Earth was 5 hours. As time goes, the Moon's drift has actually slowed down Earth's rotational speed and could be catastrophic for life on Earth. Of course, we are talking about billions of years, so none of us should worry too much about it. 

Sol, your post seems to be missing a few bits.  The Moon is drifting away at a rate of 1.48 inches per… day? year?  century?  I don’t remember.  Which is it?  I suspect “year”.

I also don’t think it’s the Moon’s drift that has slowed down Earth’s rotation , I think it’s its gravity.  Each body’s gravity slows down to the other.  Somebody Google-check me. 

Lastly, you say that the slowing down if Earth’s spin could be catastrophic for life on Earth but you don’t mention why.  Since the rate is so slow (which you alluded to with your statement about billions of years), won’t evolution keep up with the change?  Dunno.

[solvegas]

The Moon is drifting away from Earth an average of 3.78 centimeters, or 1.48 inches, which causes our days to elongate due to gravitational forces that both the Moon and Earth have on each other. When the Moon first formed 4.5 billion years ago after catastrophic impact from a proto planet on Earth, the Moon formed and at the time the average day on Earth was 5 hours. As time goes, the Moon's drift has actually slowed down Earth's rotational speed and could be catastrophic for life on Earth. Of course, we are talking about billions of years, so none of us should worry too much about it. 

Sol, your post seems to be missing a few bits.  The Moon is drifting away at a rate of 1.48 inches per… day? year?  century?  I don’t remember.  Which is it?  I suspect “year”.

I also don’t think it’s the Moon’s drift that has slowed down Earth’s rotation , I think it’s its gravity.  Each body’s gravity slows down to the other.  Somebody Google-check me. 

Lastly, you say that the slowing down if Earth’s spin could be catastrophic for life on Earth but you don’t mention why.  Since the rate is so slow (which you alluded to with your statement about billions of years), won’t evolution keep up with the change?  Dunno.

Yearly. As for rotation, there is less friction due to gravity decline due to distance so the days might elongate. As for catastrophic, life as we know it now. After all, life forms were very different in the past so the future in unknowable. Could the Moon drift so far that it could become a rogue celestial body and collide with another planet or even Earth? As I said at the end, we shouldn't worry about it because the time scale is gigantic. Besides, when our own Sun burns through its Hydrogen fuel and expands into a red giant, Earth and the inner planets and everything in between will be toast. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

The Moon is drifting away from Earth an average of 3.78 centimeters, or 1.48 inches, which causes our days to elongate due to gravitational forces that both the Moon and Earth have on each other. When the Moon first formed 4.5 billion years ago after catastrophic impact from a proto planet on Earth, the Moon formed and at the time the average day on Earth was 5 hours. As time goes, the Moon's drift has actually slowed down Earth's rotational speed and could be catastrophic for life on Earth. Of course, we are talking about billions of years, so none of us should worry too much about it. 

Sol, your post seems to be missing a few bits.  The Moon is drifting away at a rate of 1.48 inches per… day? year?  century?  I don’t remember.  Which is it?  I suspect “year”.

I also don’t think it’s the Moon’s drift that has slowed down Earth’s rotation , I think it’s its gravity.  Each body’s gravity slows down to the other.  Somebody Google-check me. 

Lastly, you say that the slowing down if Earth’s spin could be catastrophic for life on Earth but you don’t mention why.  Since the rate is so slow (which you alluded to with your statement about billions of years), won’t evolution keep up with the change?  Dunno.

Yearly. As for rotation, there is less friction due to gravity decline due to distance so the days might elongate. As for catastrophic, life as we know it now. After all, life forms were very different in the past so the future in unknowable. Could the Moon drift so far that it could become a rogue celestial body and collide with another planet or even Earth? As I said at the end, we shouldn't worry about it because the time scale is gigantic. Besides, when our own Sun burns through its Hydrogen fuel and expands into a red giant, Earth and the inner planets and everything in between will be toast. 

I don’t think that we’ll become a rogue planet when we lose the Moon, but I doubt Earth would be a very nice place to live.  The Moon keeps our “wobble” in check (and if you’ve ever had your wobble out of check, you know how painful that could be).  Without it, the planet might begin to lose the angle of its axis and look more like a top losing its spin, the way Mars does over time.  Weather would go nuts, to say the least.  But, as you say, it’s so far in the future that I would hope we would have found many new terraformed homes by then.  Who knows, maybe they could figure out a way to push the Moon back towards Earth a bit.  Who knows what technology our descendants might have?

[solvegas]

I did not know this for a long time until recently as I started to look for planet facts.

[TheZookie007]

Speaking of the Chandler wobble (not to be confused with the Rachel haircut):

The Independent (UK), 28 July 2022: "The Earth broke its record for the shortest day – and the effects could be ‘devastating’"
The planet completed a full spin on 29 June 2022 in 1.59 milliseconds shorter than 24 hours

[solvegas]

 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Pieces of the Chinese CZ-5B first stage that came down in Borneo in an uncontrolled re-entry Saturday.  Eventually, China will kill someone with these things.

[solvegas]

Pieces of the Chinese CZ-5B first stage that came down in Borneo in an uncontrolled re-entry Saturday.  Eventually, China will kill someone with these things.

One of the reasons why NASA, the European Space Agency and Elon Musk's SpaceX facilities are near the ocean is because if a rocket malfunctions, it will fall into the sea and cause minimal danger to inhabited regions. The reason why the Russians and the Chinese facilities are deep inland it's because even their "civilian" space agencies are under the military command, and it is easier to keep prying eyes away when facilities are thousands of miles inland. The Chinese Communist Party covers up, quite successfully, when stages fall into China since they lie to their people and like to blame the Americans when a stage falls onto a village and kills people. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

Another James Web pic (get used to them!).  The cartwheel galaxy has been photographed before, but not with as much detail.  Apparently, the result of a galactic merger, the outer ring is traveling outward, and as it does so, it collects gas and dust that seems to be creating new stars. 

The two galaxies on the left seem to be closer to the cartwheel, than the diameter of the whole cartwheel, itself. 

Great stuff.

[solvegas]

On the left is the Hubble image and on the right is the new James Webb image of the same part of space. The difference in technology and quality is amazing. 

[Shadowmuse Blown]

On the left is the Hubble image and on the right is the new James Webb image of the same part of space. The difference in technology and quality is amazing. 

‘Tis!  One of the cool things about the Webb telescope is it’s ability to see in near infrared light, enabling it to cut through all that dust and gas you see in the Hubble image.