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Earth and the Moon

The Moon

Has the Moon always been in its present position from Earth?

No, the Moon used to be much closer to Earth, and used to go around Earth in a much shorter time than it does today. In the future, the orbital distance between Earth and the Moon will increase; then, if left undisturbed, the angular momentum of the Earth-Moon system would dissipate so much so that the Moon will start spiraling toward, and ultimately crash into, our planet. According to calculations, though, long before this occurs our Sun will evolve into a red giant about five billion years from now, destroying the Earth-Moon system.



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