A recent discovery by scientists at the University of Idaho predicts that the Moon will crash into Earth in a collision brought by a series of unfortunate circumstances. However, this event will not happen until approximately 65 billion years.
Currently, our satellite is spinning further away from Earth because of the oceanic tides. The Moon has its gravitational force which clashes with our planet and casts it away.
At some point, the Earth will rotate more slowly, and this will cause the Moon to start getting close again. This event will start a reverse process that will cause the Moon to come in contact with the Earth, eons ahead of our time.
What will happen when the Earth and the Moon collide?
In approximately six billion years, the Sun will enter its red giant phase, and the star will begin to decay until it becomes a white dwarf.
A white dwarf is a star that has lost most of its potency and only contains its exposed core. At this stage, the Sun will still be able to pull planets around with its gravitational force, but at a less stronger rate.
At this point, tens of millions of years ahead of us, the Earth will become a frozen planet because it will not have the Sun’s warmth to sustain it. However, a collision with the Moon could entirely change this landscape.
The energy released in the explosion would cause most of the Earth’s surface to melt, which would turn the oceanic masses into magma, according to scientists.
How scientists measure the distance between the Earth and the Moon
To understand how far our satellite is from the Earth’s orbit, scientists bounce lasers onto reflectors left on the Moon by Apollo missions and also into the Soviet Lunokhod rovers.
The Moon is currently at more than 406,000 kilometers (252,000 miles) at its farthest point on the orbit, called the apogee. Scientists care about these measurements because they give insights into oceanic movements.
What we know about the Moon is always changing
Scientists recently discovered the Moon is older than they initially thought. The satellite is about 140 million years older. They came to this conclusion by analyzing a mineral called zircon, found in lunar rocks brought to Earth by Apollo 14.
Researchers also discuss where the Moon came from, how it formed in the first place. Ironically, the most accepted theory states that it developed as the result of a giant impact between the Earth and a celestial body roughly the size of the planet Mars.
Source: Dailymail