- #1
AntonL
- 521
- 0
Janus said:It has to do with the tidal interaction between the Moon and Earth. As the Moon raises tides on the Earth it slows the Earth's rotation. In turn some of the Energy lost by the Earth is transferred to the Moon, pushing it into an higher orbit. The present of orbital increase is ~3.8cm per year.
http://eclipse.gsfc.nasa.gov/SEhelp/ApolloLaser.html
The quoted source does not make sense, the tides dissipate energy into heat (and electricity where man has harnessed the tides). This energy is taken from the Earth rotation and Earth-Moon orbit system leading NASA to conclude that the orbital distance increases.
This conflicts with the teaching of GR and gravity waves. Gravity waves, if they exist, also remove energy from the orbiting body, however by GR the orbit distance decreases as demonstrated practically by Nobel laureates Russell A. Hulse and Joseph H. Taylor by analyzing the pulsar in the binary system PSR B1913+16.
So who is correct? Nasa or GR and Hulse &Taylor. I would say the later; so why is the Earth-Moon system gaining energy?
Last edited: