St. Louis Science Center: Astronomy Fact Of The Day: February 26, 2022

St. Louis MO

27 February, 2022

9:30 AM

Description

Press release from St. Louis Science Center: February 26, 2022 The moon is moving farther away from Earth, at a rate of about 1 in (2.54 cm) every year. The gravitational force the moon exerts on the Earth is pulling energy from the Earth's motion, which slowly pushes the moon further from us. This transfer of energy is also causing both the moon to take longer to orbit Earth, and the Earth to take longer to rotate on its axis. All these changes are incredibly small and unnoticeable in our lifetimes; however, they will add up over billions of years. This press release was produced by St. Louis Science Center. The views expressed here are the author's own.