Scientists have discovered that the Moon is gradually moving away from Earth, which is unusual. The only natural satellite that orbits the Earth is the Moon. The Moon was previously thought to maintain a constant distance from Earth due to gravitational pull, but the new revelation has highlighted a number of concerns about the Moon. The Moon is steadily moving away from Earth at a rate of 3.8 centimeters per year, according to the NRAO (National Radio Astronomy Observatory).
Scientists predicted this behaviour many millennia ago, but they can now confirm that the Moon was previously quite near to Earth, about 155,000 miles closer than it is now.
Models of the Earth/Moon system's evolution suggest that at this separation rate, the Moon will halt in roughly 15 billion years. In about 6 to 7 billion years, our Sun will enter its Red Giant phase.
The process that removes the Moon from the Earth/Moon system determines the Moon's fate after it is retrieved from its orbit around the Earth. The Moon would be sucked into the Sun if it separated from the Earth.
This phenomenon has also had an impact on Earth's climate, and while the effects are minor in the short term, they mount up over billions of years.
In Western Australia's stunning Karijini National Park, these canyons cut through 2.5 billion-year-old, rhythmically piled strata. These sediments are banded iron formations, which are made up of different layers of iron and silica-rich minerals that were once extensively distributed on the ocean floor but are now found on the oldest parts of the Planet.
Cliff exposures at Joffre Falls show how reddish-brown iron deposits less than a meter thick alternate with darker, narrower horizons at regular intervals.
Until the distance of the moon provokes major challenges here on Earth, it is possible that humanity will be long gone from this planet.
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