Shocking! Moon drifting away from Earth: Know why

Researchers say that our Moon is drifting away from the Earth and it might disappear one day. Check out the reason behind the shocking discovery.

The Moon is slowly drifting away from the Earth. (NASA)

The Moon has been a permanent fixture in the skies and humans have looked at it in awe and wonder. The Moon has been around for some 4.5 billion years. Just imagine the day that it disappears. The thought of it is scary. Well, it seems like this nightmare will slowly become reality as some theories suggest the Moon is drifting away from Earth, but at a very slow speed and it will disappear eventually. If this happens, then life on Earth will never be the same. Check what all the fuss is actually about.

Moon drifting away from Earth

According to a video shared by @TheSecretsoftheuniverse, the Moon is moving away from the Earth at a rate of 3.8 centimetres each year. This was already discovered back in 1969 by NASA's Apollo mission. But what's the actual reason behind the change?

As per reports, the Moon's drift is a result of the tidal forces between the Moon and Earth. It is suggested that the Moon's recession is causing tides to get smaller and the Earth's rotation has also slowed down. NASA calls this theory tidal locking. This will result in longer days on Earth in future and it can also lead to the disappearance of ocean tides. The change will not only impact humanity but it will also have a severe impact on the marine ecosystem as well.  

BBC reports that computer simulations have implied that at one time, the Moon was much closer to the Earth. How close? Just 22,500km away. Now it is 384,400km away.

It is also suspected that there will be a time when the Moon will distance itself to an extent that a solar eclipse will not be possible at all for the Sun-Earth-Moon system.

Formation of Moon

According to a NASA report, billions of years ago, Earth collided with an object called Theia and resulted in debris being ejected into orbit around the Earth, which slowly converged to form the Moon. It is also believed that Moon may have formed within hours of the material being ejected from the Earth. However, even scientists do not have a strong answer to explain how exactly the moon was formed.