Have you ever wondered what a world without a moon would be like? The truth is that the first thing we would think is that every night would be a “new moon”, that is, dark and enigmatic.
There would be no eclipses, no lovers looking at the same moon to feel close, and we would not be able to see its white reflection on the seas and rivers of the world.
However, our satellite does not only have a visual function on our planet. The force and energy it exerts on the earth is so enormous that, in fact, if the moon had never existed, life as we know it might not have developed on the planet.
Yes, that’s right, we probably wouldn’t be here talking about this if it wasn’t thanks to our round friend. You want to know why?
The formation of the moon
According to what we know, the moon formed about 100 million years after the Earth. Our planet was, originally, a sphere of magma, which took 6 hours to make a complete turn around its own axis.
But 100 million years after its formation, the Earth suffered the violent impact of a body, the size of Mars, known as Theia.
This impact tore off part of the early Earth, and placed it in its orbit: thus the Earth-Moon system was born, which has a mutual gravitational attraction.
What would have happened if…?
If Theia hadn’t impacted Earth, and the moon had never existed, we probably wouldn’t be talking about this today. Why?
The tides
If the Moon had never formed, the only existing tidal effects would have been those due to the Sun, much weaker than the lunar ones.
If this had happened, the mixing and friction of substances would have been difficult, which was a fundamental condition for the creation of primitive life millions of years ago.
So, it is possible to think that if there had been no moon, life would not have developed, or would have done so millions of years later.
The weather
Even supposing that life could have been born in a world without a moon, it would be completely different from how we know it today.
Without our satellite, the inclination of the Earth’s axis of rotation would not be stable. In practice, this means that climatic variations would be extreme, which would not allow the living beings we know of to develop.
Windy days from 6 to 8 hours
We said that the days on earth before the moon lasted 6 hours. It was the gravitational effect of the satellite that caused the speed at which the earth rotates to slow down, giving 24-hour days.
So if there was no moon, the days would last between 6 and 8 hours. This implies that the earth would rotate much faster, and the greater the speed of rotation of a planet, the greater the winds that occur on it.
Thus, if the Earth day were so short, typical winds on Earth would reach 160-200 kilometers per hour.
If we still existed…
If, despite everything, the development of intelligent life was possible on a world without a moon, nothing would be the same.
The moon was a guide for the first men, who based a large part of society as we know it today on its phases.
The study of the sky and the creation of lunar calendars have allowed the species to understand and master agriculture, hunting, and biological cycles and to basically build our civilization.
So you know, tonight when you look at the moon, remember that thanks to it you are here.
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