How important is the moon? Its gravity can pull the earth sideways!

The Earth has only one natural satellite, the Moon, and this satellite has a huge impact on the Earth's climate and ecology.

The Earth is a planet rich in species, and the Earth's biodiversity is largely due to the changing of seasons on Earth, which is essentially given to us by the Moon, because the Moon's gravity pulls the Earth crooked. Because of the Moon's gravity, there is an angle between the Earth's rotation axis and its orbit, which causes the point of direct sunlight to change on the Earth's surface as the Earth revolves, resulting in the changing of seasons. Why is the Moon so powerful? Most satellites of planets do not have this ability because they are too small relative to the planets they belong to, but the Moon is different. The Moon's volume is 1/49 of the Earth's, and its mass is 1/81 of the Earth's.

Why is the moon so big?

Because the moon is not a native satellite, nor was it captured by the Earth's gravity, but was formed by an impact. Not long after the Earth was formed, an asteroid named "Theia" came to the Earth and collided with the Earth at a tricky angle. This collision caused a large amount of Earth material to be thrown into space, and the asteroid itself turned into a large amount of fragments. In this way, the fragments of the asteroid and the fragments of the Earth were mixed together to form a planetary ring around the Earth. After that, the larger fragments began to absorb and merge the smaller fragments. Slowly, a new planet was born. Since then, it has become the only natural satellite of the Earth, the Moon.

The moon has been with the Earth for billions of years and has an inseparable bond with the Earth, but some people have different opinions.

For example, some scientists once believed that if the moon is destroyed, it may be more beneficial to human beings. The reason is that without the moon, the four seasons will disappear, and the extremely cold climate will disappear, and many areas that were originally uninhabitable will become habitable. Is this really the case? Not necessarily. If humans really destroy the moon, the consequences may be very serious. The moon is the satellite of the earth and also the guardian of the earth. With an astronomical telescope, we can easily see the craters all over the surface of the moon. From the pictures of the back of the moon sent back by the lunar probe, we can clearly see that the craters there are more dense. What does this mean? It means that in the past billions of years, the moon has helped the earth block a large number of impacts.

Compared with other planets in the solar system, the Earth is hit by very few meteorites. One of the important reasons for this is the protection of the Moon.

Without the moon, the development of life on Earth might not be so smooth. It is unknown how many times the huge impact that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs would have occurred. The reason why the moon has a front and a back is because the moon and the earth have achieved tidal locking, so the speed and direction of the moon's rotation and revolution are the same. The direct impact of tidal locking on the earth is the ebb and flow of the ocean, and tides play an indispensable and important role in marine ecology because they can promote the exchange of nutrients on the seabed and create better conditions for the birth of life. Now, tides are used by humans as a clean energy source.

The changing of seasons, the ebb and flow of tides, and the blocking of meteorites: the moon is indispensable for all of these.

If the moon is really destroyed, the earth's ecology may undergo earth-shaking changes. Even humans with modern technology may not be able to survive this great change. In fact, the subsequent impact of the disappearance of the moon is secondary. When the moon is destroyed, the earth will actually suffer a catastrophe. Because once the moon is blown into pieces, the impact force generated by the explosion plus the gravity of the earth will cause a large number of fragments to fall to the earth. The earth will experience the most serious meteorite shower in history. What's more terrifying is that because the distance between the moon and the earth is too close, the impact speed of some fragments may be very fast. Fast speed means great force. Such an impact is likely to completely destroy the earth's ecology.

To sum up, it is better for us not to think about the moon.

In fact, this worry is unnecessary, because with the current capabilities of mankind, it is really beyond one's ability to destroy the moon. At this stage, the most powerful weapon that humans have is nuclear weapons. So how many nuclear warheads are needed to destroy the moon? This is difficult to calculate, but it must be calculated in "billions", so even if all the existing nuclear warheads on the earth are fired at the moon, it cannot be destroyed. Compared with the earth, the moon is indeed very small, and its gravity is only 1/6 of that of the earth. The lunar return capsule does not need a carrier rocket and a launch tower to get rid of the moon's gravity and enter space. Despite this, the moon is a celestial body with a diameter of nearly 3,500 kilometers after all. It is not so easy to destroy it. In the past billions of years, the moon has suffered countless asteroid impacts and has not been shattered, but only left some scars on the surface.

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