Throughout this long history, the Moon has been Earth's companion in space. They shaped each other through the invisible connection of their gravitational pull. The Moon's gravitational pull is relatively weak compared to Earth's. (Apollo astronauts were able to leap across the lunar surface because of this weaker pull.) Yet, the Moon's gravitational pull is responsible for Earth's current length of day, stable seasons, and tides.
Credit: NASA
Length of Day – Early Earth was spinning at a much faster rate: according to computer models, Earth had a six-hour day 4.5 billion years ago! Since then, with the help of our Moon, Earth has been slowing down and our days have been getting longer. Evidence includes growth rings in fossil corals and shells and ancient photosynthetic bacteria layers, called stromatolites. Stromatolites living 850 million years ago record a day length that was about 21 hours long. Fossil corals from 400 million years were living on an Earth with 22-hour days.
Over time, the Moon's gravitational pull on the Earth "stole" some of Earth's spin energy, launching the Moon slowly into higher and higher orbits. [The Apollo laser experiments confirmed that the Moon is moving away at the rate of two inches (five centimeters) per year.] The distance between Earth and Moon increased and the spins of both decreased. Today, Earth spins once every 24 hours.
Today’s more distant Moon takes over 27 days to complete one full orbit around Earth. Just like Earth, our Moon rotates on its own axis and experiences daylight and dark cycles. Our Moon's day and night cycles are longer than Earth's — the Moon spins on its axis once every 27.3 days. The Moon takes the same amount of time to spin around once as it does to orbit completely around Earth. This means that Earth observers always see the same side of the Moon (the nearside). The side we do not see from Earth (the farside) has been mapped during lunar missions.
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Turbulent Beginnings
Moon and Earth
Throughout this long history, the Moon has been Earth's companion in space. They shaped each other through the invisible connection of their gravitational pull. The Moon's gravitational pull is relatively weak compared to Earth's. (Apollo astronauts were able to leap across the lunar surface because of this weaker pull.) Yet, the Moon's gravitational pull is responsible for Earth's current length of day, stable seasons, and tides.
Credit: NASA
Length of Day – Early Earth was spinning at a much faster rate: according to computer models, Earth had a six-hour day 4.5 billion years ago! Since then, with the help of our Moon, Earth has been slowing down and our days have been getting longer. Evidence includes growth rings in fossil corals and shells and ancient photosynthetic bacteria layers, called stromatolites. Stromatolites living 850 million years ago record a day length that was about 21 hours long. Fossil corals from 400 million years were living on an Earth with 22-hour days.
Over time, the Moon's gravitational pull on the Earth "stole" some of Earth's spin energy, launching the Moon slowly into higher and higher orbits. [The Apollo laser experiments confirmed that the Moon is moving away at the rate of two inches (five centimeters) per year.] The distance between Earth and Moon increased and the spins of both decreased. Today, Earth spins once every 24 hours.
Today’s more distant Moon takes over 27 days to complete one full orbit around Earth. Just like Earth, our Moon rotates on its own axis and experiences daylight and dark cycles. Our Moon's day and night cycles are longer than Earth's — the Moon spins on its axis once every 27.3 days. The Moon takes the same amount of time to spin around once as it does to orbit completely around Earth. This means that Earth observers always see the same side of the Moon (the nearside). The side we do not see from Earth (the farside) has been mapped during lunar missions.
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