Comment on Sea Level
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 3 days ago
By far the coolest and most unique aspect of the Earth-Lunar system is solar eclipses. The size and orbital distance is just right to allow for the spectacle we get today.
This is even more true when you consider that the Moon’s average orbital radius is increasing by 3" (76mm) each year. In a million years, the Moon will be too far away to fully cover the Sun. A few million years ago it was close enough to fully cover the corona
volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
Honestly, whenever I think about this, I get my tinfoil hat moment. Life being created by statistical probability and chance, well ok. Life being created and people with conscientiousness rising up at exactly the time this one planet has this perfect orbital distance - give me that tinfoil.
jol@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
That’s just our bias talking. There’s certainly many other wonderful events we missed by a couple million years. We just think the moon size is special because of this coincidence.
harambe69@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 days ago
Like the dinosaurs probably being around while the earth still had rings, right?
jol@discuss.tchncs.de 2 days ago
I didn’t know that fact, but yeah
zalgotext@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
Earth’s orbital distance has pretty much always been “perfect” though. It hasn’t really changed much since it’s formation 4-5 billion years ago.
Unless you mistyped and you’re talking about the moon’s orbital distance? In which case, it’s actually kind of the opposite of what you’re claiming. It’s estimated that life first popped up pretty close to when the planet and moon finished forming, at which point the moon’s orbital distance would have made it appear larger than the sun and probably fully obscure the sun + it’s corona during an eclipse.
volvoxvsmarla@sopuli.xyz 2 days ago
I did mean the distance between earth and moon, thanks for correcting!
mnemonicmonkeys@sh.itjust.works 2 days ago
It’s the ratio of orbital distances being perfect for total solar eclipses, so it’s technically both orbital radii
PunnyName@lemmy.world 2 days ago
A still more glorious dawn awaits Not a sunrise, but a galaxy rise A morning filled with 400 billion suns