What would happen if the Moon went further away?

It is the pull of the Moon’s gravity on the Earth that holds our planet in place. Without the Moon stabilising our tilt, it is possible that the Earth’s tilt could vary wildly. It would move from no tilt (which means no seasons) to a large tilt (which means extreme weather and even ice ages).

What would happen if the Moon went twice as fast?

Earth’s newly quickened speed would also cause much more severe hurricanes, which would spin at increased speeds along with the Earth. This is happening because the moon’s gravitational pull is gradually slowing down the Earth’s rotation. In several billion more years, our days will grow longer still.

What would happen to the Moon if it was twice its distance?

The Moon, in it’s current location, is held in orbit by the Earth’s gravity. (Actually, there’s an interchange between the two bodies.). If the Moon were twice the distance, then the gravity of the Earth would be insufficient (it decreases with the square of the distance) to hold the Moon in orbit, and the Moon would go whizzing off into space.

How does the mass of the moon affect its orbit?

The Moon orbits the Earth without falling into the Earth (thus succumbing to Newton’s universal law of gravity) by counteracting this gravitational force with an equal an opposite centripetal force: So, as you can see, the mass of the Moon (m) does not come into play. The orbit would not change.

Could a closer moon mean higher tides?

But higher ocean tides wouldn’t be the only result of a closer moon. The moon also has a tidal effect on Earth’s land, Comins said.

Is the Moon getting farther away from Earth?

The is actually slowly getting farther away. Every year, the moon moves about 1.6 inches further away from the moon due to gravitational tidal forces. So eventually,in millions of years from now, the moon WILL be twice it’s current distance.