Earth and Moon: the influence of the Moon on Earth

Beautiful and mysterious moon worried the minds of the ancient thinkers long before the advent of modern astronomy. Legends formed about her, her storytellers praised her. At the same time, many features of the behavior of the night luminary were noticed. Even then, people began to understand the effect of the Moon on the Earth. In many ways for the ancient scientists, it manifested itself in the management of certain aspects of the behavior of humans and animals, the impact on magical rituals. However, the Moon and its influence were considered not only from the point of view of astrology. Thus, already in the period of Antiquity, the interrelation between the lunar cycle and tides was observed. Today, science knows about the impact of the night light on our planet, almost everything.

General information

The moon is a natural satellite of the Earth. It is removed from our planet by 384 from a small thousand kilometers. Moreover, the night star is drawn along a slightly elongated orbit, and therefore at different times the indicated figure somewhat decreases or increases. One turn around the Earth, the moon does in about 27.3 days. In this case, the full cycle (from the full moon to the new full moon) takes slightly more than 29.5 days. This discrepancy has an interesting consequence: there are months when the full moon can be admired not one but two times.

Perhaps, everyone knows that the night star always looks to the Earth with only one side of it. The far side of the Moon has long been inaccessible for study. The rapid development of astronautics in the last century changed the situation. Now there are enough detailed maps of the entire lunar surface.

The "Hidden" Sun

The influence of the Moon on the Earth is noticeable in several natural phenomena. The most impressive of them is a solar eclipse. Now it is quite difficult to imagine that storm of emotions that this phenomenon caused in ancient times. The eclipse was explained by the death or temporary disappearance of the light through the fault of evil deities. People believed that if they did not perform certain ritual actions, they could never again see the sunlight.

Today, the mechanism of the phenomenon has been studied quite well. The moon, passing between the Sun and the Earth, blocks the path of light. Part of the planet falls into the shade, and its inhabitants can observe a more or less total eclipse. It is interesting that not every companion could do this. In order that we can periodically enjoy a total eclipse, certain proportions must be observed. If the moon has a different diameter, or it is located a little farther away from us, and from the Earth it was possible to observe only partial eclipses of the daylight. However, there is every reason to believe that one of these scenarios will be realized in the distant future.

Earth and Moon: mutual attraction

The satellite, according to scientists, moves away from the planet every year by almost 4 cm, that is, with time the opportunity to see a total eclipse disappears. However, up to this point is still very far away.

What is the reason for the lunar "escape"? It lies in the features of the interaction of the night luminary and our planet. The influence of the Moon on terrestrial processes is primarily manifested in tides. This phenomenon is the result of the action of forces of gravitational attraction. And the tides are not only on Earth. Our planet in the same way affects the satellite.

Mechanism

A fairly close location makes the Moon's influence on the Earth so noticeable. Naturally, the part of the planet closer to which the satellite approached is stronger. If the Earth did not rotate around the axis, the tidal wave that originated moved from east to west, exactly under the night light. The characteristic periodicity of tides and ebbs arises from the uneven impact of one or the other parts of the planet.

The rotation of the Earth leads to the fact that the tidal wave moves from west to east and is somewhat ahead of the satellite's motion. The entire thickness of water running slightly ahead of the night light, in turn, affects it. As a result, the Moon accelerates, its orbit changes. This is the reason for removing the satellite from our planet.

Some features of the phenomenon

Even before our time, it was known that the "breath" of the ocean is caused by the moon. The ebbs and tides, however, were examined very carefully later. Today it is well known that the phenomenon has a certain periodicity. The total water (the moment when the tide reaches a maximum) separates from the low water (the lowest level) about 6 hours and 12.5 minutes. After passing the minimum point, a tidal wave begins to rise again. Within a day or a little more, thus, there are two tides.

It was noted that the amplitude of the tidal wave is unstable. It is influenced by the phases of the moon. Its maximum value reaches the amplitude at full moon and new moon. The smallest value occurs in the first and last quarter.

Duration of the day

The tidal wave generates not only the specific movement of ocean waters. The influence of the moon on terrestrial processes does not end there. The resulting tidal wave is constantly encountered with the continents. As a result of the rotation of the planet and its interaction with the satellite, there is a force oppositely directed to the motion of the earth's solid. As a result, the Earth's rotation around the axis slows down. As you know, it is the duration of one revolution that is the standard of the duration of the day. With the slowing down of the planet's rotation, the duration of the day increases. It grows slowly enough, but every few years the International Earth Rotation Service is forced to somewhat change the standard, with which all the clocks are checked.

Future

Earth and the Moon affect each other for about 4.5 billion years, that is, from the day of its appearance (according to a number of scientists, the satellite and the planet were formed simultaneously). All this period, as now, the night star was moving away from the Earth, and our planet slowed its rotation. However, a complete stop, like a final disappearance is not expected. The planet's slowdown will continue until its rotation is synchronized with the movement of the Moon. In this case, our planet will turn to the satellite with one side and it will "freeze". The tidal waves that the Earth causes on the Moon have long ago led to a similar effect: the night star always looks at the planet with one eye. By the way, there are no oceans on the Moon, but there are tidal waves: they are formed in the bark. The same processes are taking place on our planet. Waves in the cortex are insignificant in comparison with the movement in the ocean, and the effect of them is insignificant.

Associated Changes

When our planet synchronizes its movement with the satellite, the influence of the Moon on the Earth will be somewhat different. Tidal waves will continue to form, but they will cease to overtake the night sky. The wave will be located exactly under the "hanging" moon and follow it steadily. Then the increase in the distance between two cosmic objects will cease.

Astrology

In addition to physical influence, the Moon is credited with the ability to influence the destinies of people and states. Such beliefs have very deep roots, and the attitude towards them is a personal matter. However, there are a number of studies indirectly confirming this effect of the night luminary. For example, the media mentioned the data of analysts of one of the Australian banks. On the basis of an independent study, they confirm the fact that the lunar phases have a noticeable effect on the changes in the indices of the world financial markets. But the influence of the moon on fish in the process of a special study was not confirmed. However, similar scientific researches require careful verification.

We can hardly imagine our world without the moon. It certainly would not have tides and tides, and maybe even life itself. According to one of the versions, its appearance on Earth became possible due to the specific impact of the Moon, which leads to a slowing down of the planet's rotation.

The study of the influence of the satellite on Earth helps to understand the laws of the universe. The interactions that characterize the Earth-Moon system are not specific. In a similar way, the relations of all the planets and their satellites are formed. A model of the future that may be waiting for the Earth and its companion is the Pluto-Charon system. They have long synchronized their movement. Both are constantly turned to their "colleague" by the same party. Similar waiting for the Earth and the Moon, but provided that other factors affecting the system will remain unchanged, but this is unlikely in an unpredictable space.