the moon is moving away from earth.

Quote from: brian334 on June 08, 2011, 01:24:02 PM
the moon is moving away from earth.

3.8cm a year, and the earths rotation slows which is where the energy comes from.
as for mercury falling into the sun i thought that had to do with the sun becoming a red giant.
fritznien

So mercury is falling into the sun and the moon is moving away from the earth.
I guess you have to be a intellectual to understand how that works.

@ fritz
that is basically what i was implying when i mentioned  the "life span of the sun".

The sun will lose enough mass and energy (even with the consumption of mercury) that it will expand into a giant, long before the orbit of Venus decays enough to "fall into the sun".

So, by the time the Sun consumes the earth, it will be caused by expansion of the star, not by gravity.



@ Brian,

The moon moves both closer to, and away from the earth during different parts of its cycle. Its a complex elliptical pattern, influenced not only by the earth, but also by the gravity of other masses in our solar system.

Quote from: sm0ky2 on June 09, 2011, 12:48:31 AM
@ fritz
that is basically what i was implying when i mentioned  the "life span of the sun".

The sun will lose enough mass and energy (even with the consumption of mercury) that it will expand into a giant, long before the orbit of Venus decays enough to "fall into the sun".

So, by the time the Sun consumes the earth, it will be caused by expansion of the star, not by gravity.



@ Brian,

The moon moves both closer to, and away from the earth during different parts of its cycle. Its a complex elliptical pattern, influenced not only by the earth, but also by the gravity of other masses in our solar system.

you made it sound like orbital decay was the only thing going on. when it would be the sun's red giant phase.
and what is an orbital ring? planets do not have orbitals like electrons do.
something slows a satelite it goes lower and moves faster. no set amount to move lower it depends on the loss of energy, isn't nature grand.
fritznien