We are accustomed to the fact that the Moon is a satellite of the Earth. However, will it always be like this? According to the General Director of the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering Gennady Raikunov, our night luminary may sooner or later leave the earth's orbit and become an independent planet. In this case, the Earth will turn into a lifeless desert ...
Raikunov assures that the Moon may well repeat the fate of Mercury, which, as is assumed, was once a satellite of Venus, but then “flew away” from it. After that, the conditions on Venus became unsuitable for life, despite the fact that it is a terrestrial planet.
“The moon also moves away from the Earth every year, and someday, apparently, if reverse processes do not happen, it must leave the Earth,” the director of TsNIIMash made such a statement at the ongoing air show in Bourges. along the path of Venus, when conditions are formed that are not suitable for existing life forms - an aggressive atmosphere, huge pressure, a greenhouse effect, etc.?
According to the scientist, space research is now being carried out to help find out whether life conditions on our planet will change if it loses its natural satellite, and how the worst case scenario can be prevented.
Gennady Raikunov has long been worried about the fate of the moon. Earlier, he called the satellite the "seventh continent" and said that it was necessary to create a permanently functioning base on it, whose employees would be engaged in research and use of the resources of this celestial body.
Now the Moon is moving around the Earth in a nearly elliptical orbit, counterclockwise (when viewed from the North Pole) at an average speed of 1.02 kilometers per second. In fact, the movement of our natural satellite is a rather complex process, which is influenced by various perturbations due to the attraction of the Sun, planets and the oblate shape of the Earth. How likely is the scenario proposed by Raikunov?
Sergey Popov, a researcher at the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University (GAISH), confirmed that the Moon is indeed moving away from the Earth, but very slowly - the removal rate is about 38 millimeters per year. "In a few billion years, the period of the Moon's revolution will simply grow by one and a half times, and that's all," Popov said. "The moon cannot completely leave. It has nowhere to get energy in order to escape."
According to Surdin, under the influence of solar tides (the movement of water masses caused by the attraction not of the Moon, but of the Sun. - Ed. ) the speed of rotation of our planet is gradually decreasing, and the speed of removal of the satellite will gradually decrease. In about five billion years, the radius of the lunar orbit will reach its maximum value - 463 thousand kilometers, and the duration of the earth's day will increase to 870 hours.
“The statement “The moon can leave the Earth’s orbit and turn into a planet” is incorrect,” Vladimir Surdin commented on the words of his colleague Raikunov. “Solar tides will continue to slow down the Earth. But now the Moon will outpace the Earth’s rotation, and tidal friction will begin to slow down its movement. As a result, the Moon will begin to approach the Earth, though very slowly, since the strength of the solar tides is small.
But, even if we imagine that the Moon is no longer a satellite of the Earth, this will not yet turn our planet into a kind of lifeless Venus, scientists say. Thus, Alexander Bazilevsky, head of the laboratory for comparative planetology at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, commented: “The departure of the Moon will have little effect on the conditions on the Earth’s surface. There will be no ebb and flow (they are mostly lunar), and the nights will be moonless. We will survive.”
Raykunov's colleagues do not quite agree with his statement that Mercury was once a satellite of Venus. "Calculations have shown that this is possible, which, however, does not prove that it was so," Bazilevsky said. In addition, he believes, the development of the Earth and Venus cannot follow the same paths, since an increased content of the heavy isotope of hydrogen, deuterium, is observed in the Venusian atmosphere.
“This may be due to the fact that Venus once had a relatively large amount of water. When the water in the upper atmosphere decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, the light hydrogen isotope escaped into space faster than the heavy one, and the observed anomaly was obtained,” the scientist says. it is not a fact that there was liquid water on the surface of Venus, and not steam in the atmosphere, that is, it is not a fact that it was not as hot there as it is now."
Among all moons solar system, Earth's most unique satellite. Due to its proximity to the Earth, as well as its size, the Moon gives our planet a stable and stable position in its eternal journey in orbit. That is, it must be said that the Earth-Moon bond maintains its position in outer space in a more or less uniform rotation.
The formation of the Moon falls on about 4.5 billion years ago - according to the latest information from scientists, the Moon has become younger, dropping several million years. I must say that the history of the formation of the moon is amazing. And the Earth's satellite itself is extremely important for the existence of life on the planet. However, the Earth is also important for finding the Moon in its orbit.
As has been described more than once, billions of years ago, a cosmic object of no less size crashes into a huge protoplanetary substance. That's when, from the molten mass - and it was the Earth - and pulls out huge pieces of matter from the mass of the planet. Thrown into space, solid rocks are held back by the gravity of the Earth.
In an effort to escape from the captivity of the Earth's gravity, but not having the strength to do so, they begin to gather into one large object. And under the influence of rotational forces, they turn into a ball. So, our Blue Planet has acquired an important component for the education and preservation of life.
It's amazing how accurately the space object arrived in time. No less surprising is the fact that someone's hand placed both space objects in exactly the position and those points where it was necessary for the flourishing of life on Earth.
Prior to the time of the impact and the formation of the Moon, our planet was not yet blue, and rotated 4 times faster than it does now. The Earth's axis was at an inclination of 10 degrees, and the Earth's day at that time was very short - only 6 hours. And the angle of inclination affected the average temperature on Earth.
At this time, the Moon had not yet entered its current orbit, and was closer to the Earth by 12,000 times. By exerting a strong influence on the planet with powerful gravity. Soon, oceans began to form, and tidal friction began to slow the Earth's rotation. For 3 billion years, the formation of continents continued, and the planet's rotation rate continued to decrease - reaching up to 18 hours a day. After another half a billion years, the Earth's day reaches 222 hours, and adding seconds a year, they reach 24 hours.
Why is the Moon so necessary for the Earth.
In fact, the Moon plays a very important role in the life of our planet. Firstly, it should be noted the force of gravity of the satellite, acting in conjunction with the Moon-Earth, our planet is in a stable orbit. And also our Blue Planet, thanks to the Moon, received an angle of inclination of 23 degrees.
Such a degree of inclination can be called optimal, nature, as if specially taken care of the comfort of human life on Earth. Indeed, thanks to this angle, a rather narrow temperature range is kept on the planet. The sun's rays emitted by our luminary spread evenly over the globe, which creates for life on Earth good conditions. The stability of sunrises and sunsets is also associated with the Moon on Earth, supporting the change of seasons we are used to.
The Moon also has a strong influence on the water basins of the Earth. Ebb and flow, all this passes under the watchful eye of our satellite. And also the Moon keeps at the equator a 4 meter rise in the water level.
What happens if the moon leaves the earth. What threatens the Earth with the distance of the Moon.
It is impossible to assert that the Moon is eternal above the Earth, and it may happen that the Earth's satellite will take a more distant orbit relative to our planet. Or even go into free swimming through the expanses of space. After all, as you know, the Moon, although by a small amount, is still moving away from the Earth.
Specialists have been observing the Moon for almost half a century. Even the first American astronauts left a reflector on the satellite. This helped to accurately measure the distance between the Moon and the Earth. And on Earth, the satellite was observed by modern technology.
And experts were able to answer the question of how far the Moon is moving away from the Earth. It turned out that this is about 4 centimeters per year - not such a small value, given that every year the distance is increasing. However, this is not a constant amount of removal. As you know, the distance between the satellite and our planet is not constant. Hence the magnitude of the removal is inaccurate.
Periodically, during the distance of the Moon, the earth's axis changes the angle of inclination by 2-3 degrees, in one direction or another from the axis. But even this, a small value of a couple of degrees, responds to natural disasters on Earth. And if the chain connecting the Earth and the Moon is broken, then two space objects, having lost their reciprocal attracting force, will simply scatter in the expanses of space. Released as if from a sling.
About 100 thousand years ago, a slight change in the angle of the axis led to the fact that the sun's rays began to fall differently. This led to an ecological catastrophe - where the forests once raged, wastelands scorched by the Sun formed. And as scientists suggest, it could have caused the migration of the ancient inhabitants of the planet from Africa to the North. And in Europe and North America, this did lead to the beginning of the ice age, lasting for millennia.
And if the Moon breaks the Moon-Earth chain, then the time of catastrophes will come on the planet. The truth is very short. Huge masses of water, held by the Moon, will immediately break free, and with a mighty, unrestrained force, move deep into the planet. Sweeping and destroying everything in its path, the first to experience it for themselves will be the residents of New York and Rio de Janeiro.
In addition, having lost lunar protection, the Earth can fall under the gravitational influence of another planet. And then there is no need to talk about stability on Earth. The planet will have a different slope, and changeable. This will lead to large temperature fluctuations. There will also be a redistribution of water basins - the level may increase by hundreds of meters.
However, the Earth also affects the Moon, for example, the rotation of our satellite has slowed down to one revolution per month. The Earth also slows down its rotation, this is influenced by the enormous forces of friction of ocean waves on the bottom. In this case, the tidal wave is displaced from the point directly facing the Moon.
A lot of the life of our planet is connected with the Moon. A lot can be explained scientifically. However, to answer the curious question - who so accurately debugged the celestial mechanism, and placed all the cosmic bodies strictly in their places, on this moment no one can.
We are accustomed to the fact that the Moon is a satellite of the Earth. However, will it always be like this? According to the General Director of the Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering Gennady Raikunov, our night luminary may sooner or later leave the earth's orbit and become an independent planet. In this case, the Earth will turn into a lifeless desert ...
Raikunov assures that the Moon may well repeat the fate of Mercury, which, as is assumed, was once a satellite of Venus, but then “flew away” from it. After that, the conditions on Venus became unsuitable for life, despite the fact that it is a terrestrial planet.
“The moon also moves away from the Earth every year, and someday, apparently, if reverse processes do not happen, it must leave the Earth,” the director of TsNIIMash made such a statement at the ongoing air show in Bourges. along the path of Venus, when conditions are formed that are not suitable for existing life forms - an aggressive atmosphere, huge pressure, a greenhouse effect, etc.?
According to the scientist, space research is now being carried out to help find out whether life conditions on our planet will change if it loses its natural satellite, and how the worst case scenario can be prevented.
Gennady Raikunov has long been worried about the fate of the moon. Earlier, he called the satellite the "seventh continent" and said that it was necessary to create a permanently functioning base on it, whose employees would be engaged in research and use of the resources of this celestial body.
Now the Moon is moving around the Earth in a nearly elliptical orbit, counterclockwise (when viewed from the North Pole) at an average speed of 1.02 kilometers per second. In fact, the movement of our natural satellite is a rather complex process, which is influenced by various perturbations due to the attraction of the Sun, planets and the oblate shape of the Earth. How likely is the scenario proposed by Raikunov?
Sergey Popov, a researcher at the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University (GAISH), confirmed that the Moon is indeed moving away from the Earth, but very slowly - the removal rate is about 38 millimeters per year. "In a few billion years, the period of the Moon's revolution will simply grow by one and a half times, and that's all," Popov said. "The moon cannot completely leave. It has nowhere to get energy in order to escape."
According to Surdin, under the influence of solar tides (the movement of water masses caused by the attraction not of the Moon, but of the Sun. - Ed. ) the speed of rotation of our planet is gradually decreasing, and the speed of removal of the satellite will gradually decrease. In about five billion years, the radius of the lunar orbit will reach its maximum value - 463 thousand kilometers, and the duration of the earth's day will increase to 870 hours.
“The statement “The moon can leave the Earth’s orbit and turn into a planet” is incorrect,” Vladimir Surdin commented on the words of his colleague Raikunov. “Solar tides will continue to slow down the Earth. But now the Moon will outpace the Earth’s rotation, and tidal friction will begin to slow down its movement. As a result, the Moon will begin to approach the Earth, though very slowly, since the strength of the solar tides is small.
But, even if we imagine that the Moon is no longer a satellite of the Earth, this will not yet turn our planet into a kind of lifeless Venus, scientists say. Thus, Alexander Bazilevsky, head of the laboratory for comparative planetology at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry, Russian Academy of Sciences, commented: “The departure of the Moon will have little effect on the conditions on the Earth’s surface. There will be no ebb and flow (they are mostly lunar), and the nights will be moonless. We will survive.”
Raykunov's colleagues do not quite agree with his statement that Mercury was once a satellite of Venus. "Calculations have shown that this is possible, which, however, does not prove that it was so," Bazilevsky said. In addition, he believes, the development of the Earth and Venus cannot follow the same paths, since an increased content of the heavy isotope of hydrogen, deuterium, is observed in the Venusian atmosphere.
“This may be due to the fact that Venus once had a relatively large amount of water. When the water in the upper atmosphere decomposed into hydrogen and oxygen, the light hydrogen isotope escaped into space faster than the heavy one, and the observed anomaly was obtained,” the scientist says. it is not a fact that there was liquid water on the surface of Venus, and not steam in the atmosphere, that is, it is not a fact that it was not as hot there as it is now."
quoted1 > > > Why is the moon moving away from us?
The moon is moving away from the earth: description of the process, the influence of the gravity of the planet and the satellite, the interaction of objects in space, the features of the orbit and speed with a photo.
We are used to the fact that the Moon and the Earth waltz side by side. This is a wonderful couple that was formed not just together. It was our planet, after a collision with another object, that gave life to the satellite. They grew up together and have been communicating for 4.5 billion years.
And what have we come to? Our faithful companion Luna appears to have decided to leave us. In the past, the distance between the Moon and the Earth was shorter, and time flew faster. Even 620 million years ago, a day covered 21 hours. Now they have grown to 24 hours, and the satellite is 384,400 km away.
Every year The moon is moving away from the earth by 1-2 cm, due to which 1/500th of a second is added in a century. And why is this happening? Has she found herself a new object to spin? Or is our planet not good enough? You don't have to blame her. It's all just nature.
The Earth and the Moon mutually exchange gravitational influence. Because of this, their shapes change and bulges are created.
These bulges function as a brake that slows down the speed of their rotation. Previously, the Moon rotated much faster. But the slowdown not only gave us a longer day, but also weakened the connection with the satellite. It is believed that this will continue for another 45 billion years. The sun, of course, will transform into a red giant and will fry the planet. And our days will stretch up to 45 hours. That's when the moon decides to break the connection forever.
Don't think that we alone will be abandoned. Many moons will leave their parental homes, and some will even crash into planets, as Phobos plans to do with Mars.
MOSCOW, June 22 - RIA Novosti. Assumptions that the Moon in the future may leave the orbit of the Earth's satellite contradicts the postulates of celestial mechanics, Russian astronomers interviewed by RIA Novosti say.
Earlier, many Internet media, citing the words of Gennady Raikunov, general director of the "space" Central Research Institute of Mechanical Engineering, reported that in the future the Moon could leave the Earth and become an independent planet moving in its own orbit around the Sun. According to Raikunov, in this way the Moon can repeat the fate of Mercury, which, according to one hypothesis, was a satellite of Venus in the past. As a result, according to the general director of TsNIIMash, the conditions on Earth may become similar to those of Venus and will be unsuitable for life.
"It sounds like some kind of nonsense," Sergei Popov, a researcher at the Sternberg State Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University (GAISh), told RIA Novosti.
According to him, the Moon is really moving away from the Earth, but very slowly - at a speed of about 38 millimeters per year. "In a few billion years, the period of the Moon's revolution will simply increase by a factor of one and a half, and that's all," Popov said.
"The moon cannot completely leave. She has nowhere to get energy in order to escape," he said.
Five week day
Another employee of the SAI Vladimir Surdin said that the process of moving the Moon away from the Earth would not be endless, eventually it would be replaced by an approach. "The statement "The moon can leave the Earth's orbit and turn into a planet" is incorrect," he told RIA Novosti.
According to him, the removal of the Moon from the Earth under the influence of the tides causes a gradual decrease in the speed of rotation of our planet, and the speed of the departure of the satellite will gradually decrease.
In about 5 billion years, the radius of the lunar orbit will reach its maximum value - 463 thousand kilometers, and the duration of the earth's day will be 870 hours, that is, five modern weeks. At this moment, the speed of rotation of the Earth around its axis and the Moon in orbit will become equal: the Earth will look at the Moon on one side, just as the Moon is now looking at the Earth.
“It would seem that tidal friction (the deceleration of its own rotation under the influence of lunar gravity) should disappear in this case. However, solar tides will continue to slow down the Earth. But now the Moon will be ahead of the Earth’s rotation and tidal friction will begin to slow down its movement. The Earth, however, is very slow, since the strength of the solar tides is small," the astronomer said.
"Such a picture is drawn to us by celestial-mechanical calculations, which no one, I think, will dispute today," Surdin noted.
The loss of the moon will not turn the Earth into Venus
Even if the Moon disappears, this will not turn the Earth into a copy of Venus, Alexander Bazilevsky, head of the laboratory for comparative planetology at the Vernadsky Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry of the Russian Academy of Sciences, told RIA Novosti.
"On the conditions on the surface of the Earth, the departure of the moon will have little effect. There will be no ebb and flow (they are mostly lunar) and the nights will be moonless. We will survive," the agency's source said.
"On the path of Venus, with a terrible warming up, the Earth can go because of our stupidity - if we bring it with greenhouse gas emissions to a very strong warming up. And even then I'm not sure that we will be able to ruin our climate so irreversibly," the scientist said.
According to him, the hypothesis that Mercury was a satellite of Venus, and then left the orbit of the satellite and became an independent planet, was really put forward. In particular, American astronomers Thomas van Flandern and Robert Harrington wrote about this in 1976, in an article published in the journal Icarus.
"Calculations have shown that this is possible, which, however, does not prove that it was so," Bazilevsky said.
In turn, Surdin notes that "later works have practically rejected it (this hypothesis)."
