Imagine If Planets Were As Close As The Moon

[kpete]

the rest:
(be sure to check out Saturn)
http://twistedsifter.com/2013/05/if-other-planets-were-as-close-to-earth-as-the-moon/
peace, kp

[msongs]

1. we would have some awesome tides nt

[Cleita]

2. I was just going to say something similar. Gravitational pull would create

all kinds of weirdness even to the point of depleting our atmosphere and oceans if the right balance of gravity isn't achieved.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Let's not forget the Roche Limit ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_limit

[Cleita]

7. Way beyond my knowledge of physical science but thanks.

[Romulus Quirinus]

13. Not tricky at all!

Basically, an object as big as a planet (Like Earth) is big enough that the gravity from another large object (Like Jupiter or a black hole) can exert more force on the near side than the far side. This tends to stretch orbiting bodies (such as Jupiter's inner moons) into vaguely oblate spheroids. In addition, this effect gets more pronounced the closer an object draws to a massive body. At a certain point determined by size and mass of larger and smaller bodies, the smaller body can be torn asunder by the force differential between the near and far sides.

[Motown_Johnny]

9. "As close as the Moon" would destroy the Earth if

if were any of the gas giants.

On the other hand, if it were one of the other rocky planets that we had as a satellite instead of our current one the possibilities are very interesting.


Without doing the math I will assume that we would be outside the limit if Mercury, Venus or Mars were our moon. It is entirely possible that we would have a "dual Earth" system if that were the case. Venus is large enough to hold it's atmosphere and would be the best candidate. Mercury has a magnetic field, so even though it would not hold an atmosphere for any reasonable period of time (in astronomical terms) it would be prime for terraforming since the magnetic field is crucial to long term survival. Mars may be the worst candidate of the three. To small to hold an atmosphere and no magnetic field. It would make a nice place to visit but I don't think anyone would want to live there.

Of course the views would not be anywhere near as grand as a gas giant, but at least the Earth would not be broken apart to form a ring.

[B2G]

3. Melancholia. Yikes

[uppityperson]

4. Great pictures and thinking of the tides. Whew. thanks for sharing this, very neat

[MisterP]

6. or if the Moon had a mad, deviant grin on it and was spiraling closer and closer! nt

[TeeYiYi]

8. I do in my dreams...

My dreams have always had planet filled skies. I have no idea why but it's always been that way.

TYY

[customerserviceguy]

10. That's some pretty heavy stuff!

Of course, the tides would be massive, and I doubt that humanity would have emerged to have built that road. But, hey, it's fun to imagine!

[JaneyVee]

11. Wow, that's super intimidating, but in an awesome way.

[longship]

12. Surfing on Lake Michigan would get a lot more exciting.

Surfing in Hawaii would be a blood sport.

High tide would really mean... bubblub blubb blubb blubble blub blub...

[Jeffersons Ghost]

14. Like all satellites, their orbits are in a state of decay

[Fumesucker]

17. The Moon has been moving *away* from the Earth for billions of years now

It was much closer earlier in the history of the solar system.

By the time the Sun enters red giant phase the Moon will be about 40% further away from the Earth than it is today.

[kentuck]

15. Very cool!

[RobertEarl]

16. Earth would become a moon

To Jupiter or Saturn, earth would be a moon. We'd be in orbit around a bigger planet.

Some of the smaller ones? We'd probably collide.

Our moon is leaving us. So they say. Used to be closer.