Our Seemingly Nearby Moon
May 27, 2019 10:31:01 GMT -5
Post by Radrook Admin on May 27, 2019 10:31:01 GMT -5
Our Seemingly Nearby Moon
The moon seems pretty nearby when viewed on a clear night, doesn't it? Yet at its closest, it is 225,623 miles away and 252,088 miles at its farthest. That gives it an average distance of 238,855 miles. Which means that the difference between being farther and nearer is 13,233 miles, or approx a little more than four times the distance from the USA East Coast to its West coast.
At the average walking speed of 3 mph, it would take us 7,5207.6 hours to cover nearest distance to the moon.
The would be approx 3,133.6 days.
Which would be 11.8 years at a steady walk of 3 miles per hour.
But let's speed up our velocity a little. Let's say that we travel at constant 60 mph. That is five miles above the interstate speed limit in some states. Then it would take us six months of nonstop driving to get there. Equal to driving around the world ten times
Still think it's close?
But it won't always be at this distance. You see, the farthest distance of the moon from Earth increases each year by 1.5 inches which is 15 inches in ten years. That might not seem like much, but over the course of centuries it does add up.
For example: that’s 150 inches in 100 years or 12.5 feet more distant each 100 years. Let's multiply that.
125 feet more distant in a thousand years.
1,250 feet more distant in ten thousand years.
12,500 feet farther in One hundred Thousand years
125,000 feet farther from Earth in one million years
Another example involving lesser time periods:
At a rate of 1.5 inches per year the moon moves away from earth approx:
15 inches in ten years
30 inches in 20 years
45 inches in 30 years
60 inches in 40 years
75 inches in 50 years
90 inches in 60 years
105 inches in 70 years
8.75 feet in 70 years
So during an average lifespan, that's 8.75 feet more distant.