Myth: The Moon is very close to the Earth
Reality: The moon sometimes looks so close you could reach up and grab it. In reality, the moon orbits at a distance of about…
Myth: There is a Dark side of the Moon
Reality: This confusion is due to tidal locking, which makes it seem as if the moon isn’t rotating. The moon actually is spinning quite…
Myth: The moon’s gravity pulling on water causes the tides.
Reality: The moon does pull on ocean water, but that tug at any one point is about 10 million times weaker…
Earth’s Moon Destined to Disintegrate
For the last few billion years, the Moon’s gravity has been raising tides in Earth’s oceans which the fast spinning Earth attempts to drag ahead of the…
Neptune’s Moon Triton
Neptune’s tidal forces are causing Triton to move slowly closer to the planet. In around 250 million years it will…