• Email Us: [email protected]
  • Contact Us: +1 718 874 1545
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Medical Market Report

  • Home
  • All Reports
  • About Us
  • Contact Us

The Moon Is Slowly Moving Away From Earth. Will We Ever Drift Apart?

September 12, 2023 by Deborah Bloomfield

The Moon and the Earth have been dancing around each other since the Moon was first created 4.5 billion years ago, likely in a collision between planet Theia and Earth.

But the orbits of these two bodies have changed over time. The Moon is getting further away from us, meaning one day far in the future humanity (or whatever evolves from dogs) will look up and see the last total solar eclipse.

Advertisement

We have an incredibly accurate idea of how fast the Moon is currently moving away from us, thanks to the Lunar Laser Ranging Experiment. The Apollo missions in the 60s and 70s placed reflectors on the surface of the Moon. By aiming lasers at the reflector and measuring the time it takes to be reflected back at Earth, scientists were able to determine the distance between the two points to within around 3 centimeters (1.2 inches). Taking repeated measurements showed us that the Moon is currently moving away from us at a rate of about 3.8 centimeters (1.5 inches) per year.

This hasn’t always been the case. If we take the current rate of recession and project it backwards, the Moon collides with the Earth about 1.5 billion years ago, which is awkward given that the Moon is 3 billion years older than that. 



Instead we can look at other evidence, such as layers placed down in rock and coral, which can provide estimates of the length of Earth days and the distance to the Moon at various points in history. 

Advertisement

We can also make projections of what happens next. First, say goodbye to the total solar eclipse.

“Over time, the number and frequency of total solar eclipses will decrease,” lunar scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center Richard Vondrak said in 2017. “About 600 million years from now, Earth will experience the beauty and drama of a total solar eclipse for the last time.”

The fact that our Moon currently eclipses the Sun in its entirety is a happy accident. The Sun and the Moon look about the same size in the sky as the Sun is about 400 times further away from the Earth than the Moon, and about 400 times bigger in diameter. Four billion years ago, before the Moon drifted to its current orbit, it would have appeared about three times as big as it is now in the sky.

While the Moon will continue to drift, appearing smaller and smaller in the sky, it will never be free of our orbit. The Sun will become a red giant and engulf the Earth before we are properly separated from the Moon’s influence. We shall go down together.

Deborah Bloomfield
Deborah Bloomfield

Related posts:

  1. Harvard University to end investment in fossil fuels
  2. North Korea says call to declare end of Korean War is premature
  3. Asian stocks fall to near 1-year low as oil prices stoke inflation worries
  4. “Unique” Medieval Christian Art Discovered By Accident In Sudan Desert

Source Link: The Moon Is Slowly Moving Away From Earth. Will We Ever Drift Apart?

Filed Under: News

Primary Sidebar

  • How Is The World Is Going To End Tomorrow, According To Conspiracy Theorists?
  • Forget Alien Spacecrafts: Could Interstellar Object 3I/ATLAS Be A Planet-Forming Seed?
  • 6 Million Years Ago, These Wolf-Sized Otters Were The Largest Carnivores In Their Ecosystem
  • Remember White Dog Poop In The 90s? This Is The Reason Why It Vanished
  • US Federal Committee Meets To Talk COVID-19, MMRV, And HepB Vaccines: Latest Updates
  • No, There Isn’t A “Virgin Gene” – The Truth Is Way More Interesting
  • The First Humans Were Hunted By Leopards, Scientists Have No Clue What These Marine “Y-Larvae” Grow Into, And Much More This Week
  • Operation Beluga: In 1985, An Icebreaker Playing Classical Music Saved 2,000 Beluga Whales From Certain Death
  • Getting Bats Drunk, Lizards’ Pizza Preferences, And Praising Narcissists Win Big At 2025 Ig Nobel Awards
  • Who Was The First Person To See The Moon Through A Telescope?
  • How Do You Weigh A Single Cell? Turns Out, There’s A Few Options
  • Should We Sleep Outside? Turns Out There Are Some Benefits
  • A US Federal Committee Is Meeting To Discuss Vaccines – Here’s What You Should Know
  • Neanderthal Noises, Dome-Headed Dinosaurs, And Mystery Larvae
  • Over Half Of Migrating Wildebeests Are Seemingly “Missing” In Latest Survey
  • Meet The Chewbacca Coral, A Ridiculously Fluffy New Species Discovered In The Deep Sea
  • Why Are School Buses Painted Yellow In The US?
  • What Are The Symptoms Of The “Stratus” COVID-19 Subvariant That’s Hitting The USA?
  • Intrepid Jaguar Swims Over 1 Kilometer, Smashing Previous Distance Record By More Than 6 Times
  • Breakthrough 3D Bioprinted Mini Placentas May Help Solve “One Of Medicine’s Great Mysteries”
  • Business
  • Health
  • News
  • Science
  • Technology
  • +1 718 874 1545
  • +91 78878 22626
  • [email protected]
Office Address
Prudour Pvt. Ltd. 420 Lexington Avenue Suite 300 New York City, NY 10170.

Powered by Prudour Network

Copyrights © 2025 · Medical Market Report. All Rights Reserved.

Go to mobile version