All Questions
90
questions
0
votes
1
answer
536
views
How bright would the Earth be at night without the moon?
How bright would the Earth be at night without the moon? Specifically, how much light would reach the surface of the Earth at sea level?
- 189
1
vote
1
answer
263
views
What does this sentence mean?
"The acceleration of free fall on the surface of the Earth is 6 times its value on the surface of the Moon."
I interpreted it as:
"The acceleration of free fall due to the Earth's gravitational ...
- 1,241
2
votes
1
answer
113
views
How did the Moon survive next to the Earth since earth and Moon came into existence?
What mechanism(s) prevented the gravitational effect of the earth on the moon from shattering the moon when it was closer to the earth than the Roche Limit some 4.5 billion years ago?
- 49
3
votes
1
answer
490
views
Is it possible that Mercury collided with Earth, thus creating the Moon?
I recently heard a theory that Mercury might have been bigger before a massive collision that shrunk it and sent it on its current orbit. I also heard that a possible explanation for the formation of ...
- 31
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Which will collide first, the moon and Earth, or Sun and Earth?
As time progresses, which scenario will happen first? The moon colliding with Earth, or the Earth colliding with the Sun? I figure the Moon and Earth will happen first, based on proximity, but the sun ...
- 31
0
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Does the Moon have rotation about its axis?
As I understand, the Moon is following Earth's curved space. If that's the case, shouldn't the Moon have no rotation if it's tidally locked, and only appear to have rotation?
If the Earth suddenly ...
- 161
5
votes
2
answers
2k
views
How does the Moon cause the tides?
I am considering the following question, but I can't quite figure it out...
I have looked up differential gravity, but I cannot derive the equation for the effect on Earth, and I haven't found any ...
- 3,997
18
votes
3
answers
3k
views
I was told that if the Moon had a retrograde orbit, tides would have a faster rhythm. Why is that?
Would this be because tidal deceleration causing the Earth to spin faster or are there other actions in play that I haven't considered? Would the Earth even spin faster because of the tidal ...
- 283
8
votes
2
answers
6k
views
How many hours will there be in a day 5,000,000,000 years from now?
It is known that the moon is moving away from Earth 2cm a year, and in doing so makes the days longer.
I want to know how many hours will have one day, when our planet is near its end.
- 1,108
9
votes
2
answers
4k
views
Why is the Earth's moon so big?
It could just be me, but it seems like our Moon is WAY bigger than it should be for a planet of our size. If you look at satellite-to-planet mass ratios for the largest moons of Jupiter, Saturn, ...
- 3,936
8
votes
1
answer
3k
views
What is the voltage difference between the Moon and the Earth?
The Moon and Earth are approximately spherical conductive balls and the Earth has a self-capacitance of around 710uF. Is there ever a significant potential difference in the Earth-Moon system? Is ...
- 365
2
votes
3
answers
8k
views
True or false: the Moon was touching the Earth 1.2 billion years ago
A creationist website makes this argument for the 6,000 year old earth. I'm embarrassed to say I don't know how to do the math to evaluate the claim myself. However, the time scales involved seems ...
- 21
8
votes
2
answers
9k
views
How is the Earth heated by a Full Moon?
While the moon is certainly not a good reflector of solar radiation, surely the radiation it reflects back heats the Earth (even if it is a terribly small amount).
How would one go about calculating (...
user28754
17
votes
5
answers
28k
views
Does the moon affect the Earth's climate?
So, this morning I was talking to a friend about astronomical observations, and he told me that lately there has only been good weather when there was a full moon in the sky, which was a shame.
I ...
- 282
15
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Mars just collided with Earth! A question of eccentricity
One of the standard theories behind the formation of our Moon is the giant impact hypothesis, according to which Earth was struck by a Mars-sized body (about $10\%$ the mass of Earth) early in its ...
user10851