What Would Happen If The Moon Disappeared?

Now that you’ve made it through Moon 101, let’s ponder this.  Have you ever wondered, what would happen if the Moon disappeared?

Before reading on, parents and children write down or say your hypothesis.  What’s a hypothesis?  A hypothesis is “an educated guess”.  Is it ok that you don’t know the answer?  Yes!  That’s the part of science that is so much fun!  Making your guess, reading the facts if you have them, or conducting an experiment, and then noting the outcome.  How close was your guess?

Let’s begin!

The most obvious change would be during the night. Nighttime would become incredibly dark!  This is because the moon provides light to the Earth during the night hours by reflecting light from the sun.  No moon, no reflection.

The incredible moon pulls on the Earth slowing its’ rotation. The moon’s pull creates a bulge near the Earth’s equator.  This means there is a lower level of water at the poles. Which helps you to understand the second thing you’d notice.

Next you’d notice the lack of tides at the beach.  The Moon’s gravity causes the oceans to rise and fall. As the water moves, a slight friction is caused between the water and the Earth spinning. The Earth’s rotation is slowed slightly by this friction.  If the moon wasn’t there, then the water would probably spread across the planet in equal amounts and reduce the amount of friction.

In turn, this means that the Earth’s rotation would not slow!  Our hours and days would change drastically.  Without the moon, an Earth day would last between six and twelve hours and we would add significantly more days to our calendar. Instead of 365 days in a year, we would have over a thousand!

The change in the rotational speed and tilt would also affect the Earth’s weather. If the moon can slow down the Earth’s rotation, then the moon can also affect the wind and wind speeds on the planet. Without the moon, we would experience an increase in wind speeds. These winds could become much faster and much stronger without the aide of the moon!

And that brings us to seasons.  The Earth’s tilt plays a part in the seasons and changing weather.  The moon affects the angle of the Earth’s tilt. Presently, the Earth is at a 23.5-degree tilt. That means the planet leans slightly to one side as it sits in space. Without the pull of the moon, this tilt would change. Either it would become extreme, leading to severe seasons, or the tilt would decrease, leading to  almost no seasons at all.

God knew what He was doing when He created the world!  In Genesis. God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years… God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good.

Life without the Moon would be drastically different.  Without the marvelous moon, tides would fall, our nights would be darker, the seasons would change (or not change at all), and the length of our days and years would be altered.  Aren’t you glad God knew what he was doing when He made the two great lights?

Check out these Astronomy resources at Rainbow Resource Center!