HOW DOES THE MOON CAUSE TIDES ?
Tides are the periodic rise and fall of sea level at a particular place. When the sea level rises to its greatest height, it is known as a high tide and when the sea level drops to its lowest height, it is known as a low tide. Tides are primarily caused due to the gravitational force of the moon.
Part of the earth facing the moon experiences a stronger gravitational pull towards the moon as compared to the earth's center. So, the part facing the moon is pulled away from the center, creating a bulge and thus, increasing the sea level and causing a high tide. Now, the earth's center experiences a stronger gravitational force towards the moon than the part facing away from the moon. Hence, this part is pulled away from the center, resulting in high tide on the opposite side as well.
In addition to this, the places in between the two high tides, where the sea level drops, experience low tides.
WHAT HAPPENED IF EARTH HAD 2 MOON ?
The most obvious effect of 2 moons would be that our nights would be much, much brighter. That would certainly be bad news for stargazers and astronomers.
Also, as you all know that tides on earth are a result of the moon. So, 2 moons would either amplify, this effect or cancel out each other. If they were to amplify, then we could have huge tides, effectively making living near shorelines almost impossible. But it will definitely be good news for all the surfers.
Finally, as the number of moons increases, so will the number of solar eclipses. Also, hypothetically, if they were to ever collide with each other, then the amount of debris coming out of such collision would make living on earth almost impossible.
WHY DO WE SEE ONLY ONE SIDE OF THE MOON ?
Our moon takes about 27 days to rotate around its own axis and 27.3 days to revolve around the earth. This means the moon rotates around its axis at almost the same rate or speed as it revolves around the earth. Hence, the same side of the moon is constantly facing the earth, making us see only one or same side of the moon.
However, if the moon did not rotate on its axis, then we could see the other side of the moon. We would also see the other side, if the moon rotated in 13.5 days, like it made two rotations in one revolution. But this is not the case. However, an interesting fact is that due to the elliptical orbit of the moon, we can see almost 59% of the moon's surface.
Lunar Eclipse
Why does the moon turn red?
John : To scare us.
Me : No, Moon does not have light of its own. Do you know why?
John : Didn't he pay the electricity bill.
Me : Please listen, John.
Sunlight or white light is a mixture of visible colors.
Now, when the sunlight falls on the moon, it reflects all these visible colors equally, making the moon to mostly appear white.
However, during a lunar eclipse when the earth is exactly between the sun and the moon, the moon appears red.
This happens because of the earth's atmosphere. When the sunlight coming from the sun passes through the earth's atmosphere, the earth's atmosphere scatters the colors of the sunlight having shorter wavelengths. However, red color which has the longest wavelength is least scattered.
Hence, it makes its way to the moon, making it look red.
What happened if the moon will disappear ?
Firstly, our nights would definitely be darker. Due to this, night predators like owls would find it very difficult to hunt at night. But, this would be great news for stargazers, as there is no interference from moonlight. Secondly, as the moon's gravity is no longer there to hold the earth, it would rotate faster and thus, our days will be much shorter than 24 hours. Craters on moon are a proof that it has protected earth from thousands of asteroids and comets, this no longer will be the case.
With the moon missing, tides in our oceans will be much, much smaller than only the sun will slightly influence them. Changing tides will also influence the global weather patterns.
Finally, the moon's disappearance might tilt earth's axis drastically, causing extreme changes in seasons and climate.
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