Moon's change of orbit

If something physical or meta-physical happened whereby the Moon's
orbit was suddenly changed to an apogy of just within Earth's
gravitational pull (sorry, don't know the distance) and a perogy of
150,000 to 175,000 miles:

What are the affects on Earth. Tides I know about. What about
tectonic affects? Are there any documents or sites detailing severe
changes to the Moon's orbit.

Thanks
Ian

Ian wrote:
If something physical or meta-physical happened whereby the Moon's
orbit was suddenly changed to an apogy of just within Earth's
gravitational pull (sorry, don't know the distance) and a perogy of
150,000 to 175,000 miles:

The moon is well within the Earth's gravitational pull.
That is why it orbits the Earth

Presumably you were thinking of the point between
the Earth and the moon where the gravitational
acceleration contribution of the moon and the Earth
are equal and opposite. Of course, if you moved the moon
to that point, it wouldn't have much meaning anymore,
as the equivelent point in the new configuration would
have moved even farther inward.

- Matt

What are the affects on Earth. Tides I know about. What about
tectonic affects? Are there any documents or sites detailing severe
changes to the Moon's orbit.

Thanks
Ian

(Ian) wrote in message . com...
If something physical or meta-physical happened whereby the Moon's
orbit was suddenly changed to an apogy of just within Earth's
gravitational pull (sorry, don't know the distance) and a perogy of
150,000 to 175,000 miles:

What are the affects on Earth. Tides I know about. What about
tectonic affects? Are there any documents or sites detailing severe
changes to the Moon's orbit.

Thanks
Ian


Umm... I'm confused. First, the moon is always within the earth's
gravitational pull. In fact, every single thing is being "pulled on"
by gravity from every single other thing, everywhere in the universe.

Second, it appears you're confused about the terms for an orbit.
"Apo-" is the highest point of an orbit, "peri-" is the lowest point.
The suffix for those terms depends on the body you are orbiting.
"Apogee" would be the highest point of an orbit around earth,
"perilune" is the lowest part of an orbit around the moon. "Aphelion"
is the highest part of an orbit around the sun. And so on.
"Apoapsis" and "periapsis" are generic terms that can apply to any
orbit.

Now, if I understand your question correctly, you want to know what
would happen if the moon's orbit somehow got closer. That I can't
answer, but I would think anything that can disturb the moon's orbit
that drastically could have a significant effect on the earth's orbit
around the sun.

On 27 Jan 2004 13:05:21 -0800
(Ian) wrote:

If something physical or meta-physical happened whereby the Moon's
orbit was suddenly changed to an apogy of just within Earth's
gravitational pull (sorry, don't know the distance) and a perogy of
150,000 to 175,000 miles:

The moon is already within the Earth's "gravitational pull" just like everything else in the observed universe. Perhaps you were refering to the Roche limit. Inside that limit the moon would be unable to avoid being pulled apart by tides from the Earth's gravitational field.


What are the affects on Earth. Tides I know about. What about
tectonic affects?

You will get very severe tides and probably some earthquakes as some old stresses let go all at once. I suspect the tectonic affects would quiet down after a while.
--
Michael Smith
Mail address and GPG key available from www.netapps.com.au

Well, it wrought some havoc back on 9/13/99 - I don't think any of us will
forget that




"Ian" wrote in message
om...
If something physical or meta-physical happened whereby the Moon's
orbit was suddenly changed to an apogy of just within Earth's
gravitational pull (sorry, don't know the distance) and a perogy of
150,000 to 175,000 miles:

What are the affects on Earth. Tides I know about. What about
tectonic affects? Are there any documents or sites detailing severe
changes to the Moon's orbit.

Thanks
Ian