So wrote Dr. Dawg when he commented on my post "the Earth is Shaking". No kidding. Now a NASA scientist is saying that Chile's earthquake was so big (8.8 magnitude) that it may have changed the Earth's rotation and shortened the days. Okay the change is only 1.26 microseconds which is slightly more than 1 millionth of a second.
Is it possible that if these shakes continue that the Earth will fall out of its orbit some day and it will be the end of times as far as this planet is concerned? Okay don't worry if it did happen it will be a few millions years from now... I think. So still a lot of time to count.
You can click her to ead the story, "Chile earthquake may have shortened days."
In the meantime the news is not good from Chile. The death toll has reached close to 800 and it looks most of the deaths resulted from the Tsunami in coastal areas of Chile, aftermath of quake. It is indeed a big tragedy.
There is a mitigating factor when it comes to the increase of the Earth's rotational speed - the Moon. Our Moon is not only the largest natural satellite in the solar system, it's also the largest in size compared to its parent planet; Mars' two moons, Phobos and Deimos, are little more than small asteroids captured by the gravity of Mars, and you could fit thousands of any one of Jupiter's four largest moons into the volume of space it occupies and they're as large as our Moon but relative to Jupiter they're quite small.
ReplyDeleteThe Moon's gravitational pull on the Earth can raise significant tides in Earth's water oceans and these tides actually exert a drag on the Earth's rotation, slowing it down by 0.002 seconds per day per century, so that will eventually negate the increase in the Earth's spin caused by both the Chile quake and the Banda Ache quake of 2004. Because of the Laws of Conservation of Angular Momentum this ongoing slowing of the Earth's spin is actually causing the Moon to move farther away from the Earth at a rate of 3.8 cm per year or nearly two metres per century.
No, unless it was hit with a glancing blow by another planet - which would likely end most, if not all, life here - Earth isn't going to go careening across the solar system like an out of control Toyota.
What is most likely to cause the "End of Days" for planet Earth will be the death of the Sun about five billion years from now when it runs out of its hydrogen fuel and becomes a huge, old, bloated Red Giant star that will be so large that it will engulf the Earth and reduce it to a burned out, basaltic cinder.
Have a Nice Day!
N.
TMNeil, thank you for your comment. Very interesting information.
ReplyDeleteIt is indeed huge and complex universe. We are but one small solar system in that, may be, infinite universe.
Oh my goodnes...just imagine...you just learned the earth is a living moving mass that can change positon.....dah!!
ReplyDeleteEarth is constantly exposed to pulls, push and internal turmiol ...like any average human.
ReplyDeleteHowever,only politicians change their positions constantly.