with the moon steadily getting farther away...?

Question

How long will it take to fall out of earths orbit and what will be the concequences for us?

Answer 1

who said its getting farther away?

got a link to a reputable source?

Answer 2

No.- and yes. the moon''s orbit is elliptical. and it is in a constant state of motion. Either moving loser or further depending on the forces acting upon it.

The moon like all physical bodies only move/react when acted upon. Though the solar system/universe is not in equilibrium it is stable- at least for the foreseeable future.

The Moon is held in orbit by the gravitational field of the Earth. It (the moon) is also pulled by other gravitational fields acting upon it such as the sun and the other planets, including comets and to a lesser extent other solar systems.

The Moon;'s orbit is elliptical. That means it does not move in a perfect circle. Which makes sense since the solar system is traveling through space at a phenomenal speed. The sun soaring through space is pulling the Earth and the other planets along, each of the planets trying to keep up. The moon is pulled along by the Earth. One way to picture this is to think of the orbit as that of an egg- oval.

If it were falling out of orbit then one of the major consequences would be on our tides. Both land and sea. I'm sure there would be other but I think this would be the most sifnificant.

Answer 3

The Moon is drifting away from the Earth at about 1.5 inches (about 4 centimeters) per year. This is measured by NASA as a result of bouncing lasers off reflective panels left over during the Apollo missions for that purpose.

What will happen billions of years from now, assuming the sun's early death throes (swelling into its red giant stage specifically), is as the Moon drifts further away, the tides will begin to diminish, our days will length (one billion years ago, our days were 18 hours long, and it took 20 days for the moon to completely circle the Earth), and more dramatically, the Earth will begin to titter like a top slowing down. Our orbit will grow a wobble which could tilt the planet so much that our north pole if facing towards the sun while the south pole looks to the dead of space.

But likely the death of our sun will occur before the moon's stabilizing effect is lost.

Answer 4

U r right the moon is moving away, i think about 30 cm per hundred years,

the moon helps to stabilize the earth spin on it axis, when it does move away the earth will fall off of it axis, and cause one of the poles to heat up into a desert, the other side would turn into an ice planet, the earth would stop spinning, and there would be 6 months of extreme heat and constant day then followed by 6 months of extreme cold and constant night

i saw a program about this awhile ago, it won't happen for about 600 million years tho, the sun will probably expand before this happens

Answer 5

The moon's orbital distance is gradually increasing, but so slowly it will not leave Earth's orbit before the Sun turns into a red giant and destroys the Earth and the Moon.

Answer 6

If at all the moon is moving away it will stabilize at a steady state orbit. No worry.

Answer 7

The moon is not getting farther away. It is held by Earth's gravitational force.

Answer 8

Consequences for us would be no night. I wonder what the nocturnal animals would do . Would they all die? I guess the earth's tempertature would never really cool. Also what about low and high tides> they are effected by the moon.

Answer 9

Don't know where you got your information, but the moon's orbit is not changing.

Answer 10

hopefully it will fly away... and NOT fall back... but It does not matter, nobody Will be on Earth than, we are lucky if humanity will be OK till 2100