Celestia Forums

If u accel the time a lot the moon crashes on earth... will this happen one day or just a bug?

I got a picture here.. but i dont have an url to show it...

I think this is supposed to happen, but the way the orbit changes, I think, is a bug.

As best I can tell, this is a bug that Chris is already aware of. Orbits go crazy if you go far into the future. For example, the orbital track of the moon turns into discontinuous scribbles and the moon jumps in and out of hyperspace as it goes around the earth

I just fixed this . . . The same problems used to occur with all the planets. I just forgot to apply the fix to the Moon's orbit. Thanks for catching this one . . .

--Chris

Why not keep it and add an explosion hehe that would be cool...

Because the moon isn't going to hit the earth. Earth's gravity well also known as the rouche limit will crush the moon. Earth will get a nice ring instead of a moon as the rubble smooths out in orbit. Besides something the size of the moon hitting the earth would cause severe damage to the planet. Posibly breaking large pieces off in the process that would create new moons. They believe the moon was formed because another planetoid about the size of mars hit the earth and shattered it. Earth reformed and the debries became the moon. Hmmm sounds like that line about what was in the past is in the future.

The real fact is that the moon distance is getting bigger ( I remeber 3 cms/year) this is because the conservation of the angular momentum and the tides that slow down the earth rotation. ( the day had only 18 hours 900 million years ago and the moon was much more near of the earth).

Eventually the earth's rotation will slow down to where it keeps only one face towards the Moon (like in Pluto Charon system) and the angular size will be much smaller than the sun and we will not have any more total solar eclipses. But don't worry there are much time for this to happend.

The conclusion is that the moon will never hit the earth. I hope this clear all your doubts, if not... ask me for the formulae.

Rassilon wrote:Why not keep it and add an explosion hehe that would be cool...

Too late . . . it's already fixed :>

--Chris

damn...

Don. Edwards wrote:Because the moon isn't going to hit the earth. Earth's gravity well also known as the rouche limit will crush the moon. Earth will get a nice ring instead of a moon as the rubble smooths out in orbit. Besides something the size of the moon hitting the earth would cause severe damage to the planet. Posibly breaking large pieces off in the process that would create new moons. They believe the moon was formed because another planetoid about the size of mars hit the earth and shattered it. Earth reformed and the debries became the moon. Hmmm sounds like that line about what was in the past is in the future.

Yeah not to mention all life being extinquished on impact...Makes me think of the crumbling moon in the Time Machine

Rassilon wrote:Why not keep it and add an explosion hehe that would be cool...

Which again leads to the urgent question:

"What is located between t00fri's chair and his keyboard, h?, h??"

Bye Fridger ;-)

Well by the time the moon gets that far away, earth will be as hot as hell and the sun will probably have melted the moon anyway. Its not like we are going to around to see it. Hopefully by then we as a speices will have our act together and be a long way off in a safe new star systems. If not we certainly won't be around to see the end when it comes. There are only two outcomes for are speices. We die here on earth or we get our butts into outer space and start colonizing. I would hope that the powers that be in the future generations get the heads out of certain orifices and see the light of day. Only time will tell.

Can we go back in time? I want to see the big bang

Don. Edwards wrote:They believe the moon was formed because another planetoid about the size of mars hit the earth and shattered it. Earth reformed and the debries became the moon.

First impact, anyone?
Sorry, but I just had to...

the moon is slowly moving away from the earth for a seemingly complex reason, but not too complex. as the moon exerts a tidal pull on the earth's surface, a bulge (imperceptably small) appears on the surface facing the moon. however, since the earth rotates much faster than the moon orbits the earth, this bulge moves along ahead of the moon before subsiding, so the net effect over time is a bulge on the surface of the earth just leading the surface facing the moon by a fractional amount. this bulge then pulls the moon forward in its orbit, giving it the extra translational energy that goes into increasing its orbit.

First impact, anyone?
Sorry, but I just had to..

Is that an Evangelion reference?

Don. Edwards wrote:Well by the time the moon gets that far away, earth will be as hot as hell and the sun will probably have melted the moon anyway. Its not like we are going to around to see it. Hopefully by then we as a speices will have our act together and be a long way off in a safe new star systems. If not we certainly won't be around to see the end when it comes. There are only two outcomes for are speices. We die here on earth or we get our butts into outer space and start colonizing. I would hope that the powers that be in the future generations get the heads out of certain orifices and see the light of day. Only time will tell.

Nah never happen....Man by nature has a tendency to destroy himself....Maybe if there is some sort of mental evolution...one that seperates us now from the apes that would in turn seperate us from the higher evolved man...Maybe then only time will tell....

Ortolan wrote:

First impact, anyone?
Sorry, but I just had to..

Is that an Evangelion reference?

....Man by nature has a tendency to destroy himself....

Are you sure that Rassilon hasn't got anything to do with a certain Commander Ikari?

LOL nah...