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The moon disappears — what would happen then?
What would happen if a satellite of Earth suddenly disappeared? How would it affect our planet?
At one time, Earth did not have a natural satellite. As it seems, the Moon was formed about 4.5 billion years ago, which is only tens of millions of years after our planetary system was formed. It happened as a result of a giant collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized planet/asteroid, which was conventionally called Thea. The object did not hit us centrally, but at an angle. As a result, it was destroyed, in addition to tearing a large part of the crust and mantle from the surface of the planet. A ring was formed around the Earth in the form of a disk, which consisted of mixed matter of both celestial bodies. Our planet thus resembled Saturn to some extent. The matter of the ring then gradually aggregated, resulting in the formation of the Moon.
The Earth’s axis
It is currently inclined at an angle of about 23.5° with respect to the orbit around the Sun. The value slowly changes over a range of several degrees, with a cycle of roughly 41,000 years. The existence of this inclination is important for the climate because seasons occur due to it. The length of day and night also changes — in spring and summer the days are longer, and we see the Sun higher in the sky then in autumn and winter.
