Our moon is slowly ditching Earth
It's drifting away, but don't pack your bags just yet!
now, your fingernails are growing at the exact same speed the…
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The answer says more about you than about the discovery.
- It's drifting away, but don't pack your bags just yet!
- Energy is a zero-sum game in physics.
- By the time the Moon settles into a stable distant orbit, a single day on Earth will likely last over 1,000 hours.
Your shadow is technically getting smaller every year because the Moon is abandoning us. It drifts 3.8 centimeters further away from Earth annually, roughly the same rate your fingernails grow.
This celestial breakup is caused by tidal friction. As the Moon’s gravity pulls on Earth’s oceans, it creates a bulge of water that actually sits slightly ahead of the Moon's position. This bulge tugs the Moon forward, giving it a boost of energy that slingshots it into a higher, wider orbit.
Energy is a zero-sum game in physics. Because the Moon is gaining energy to move away, Earth is losing it. Our planet’s rotation slows down by about two milliseconds every century to pay for the Moon's travel.
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