© Photo: NASA / JPL / USGS
MOSCOW, Oct. 12 – RIA Novosti. The moon shone cheese would be much brighter than “normal”, and if the earth satellite was the Titan, it would open up great opportunities not only for astronauts, but also, for example, to “Gazprom” – so rich would not have been even if the moon were made of gold, according to experts who RIA Novosti on the eve of the International nights of observations of the Moon asked “replace” the Earth’s satellite another celestial body.
Night observations of the Moon will take place from 12th to 13th of October. The moon will be fairly low on the southwest side, so that when the sky is clear, it is best to be seen if the horizon is not closed structure. Amateur astronomers can use not only a professional telescope, but an ordinary pair of binoculars, although using it to make the discovery is unlikely to succeed – but the sea and the largest craters see.
observation satellite of the Earth makes people very different associations: for example, poets and writers called the moon “gold” or “glass” – the first epithet can be found in Mikhail Bulgakov, Marina Tsvetaeva, Andrew White, the second – by Yuri Annenkov and Victor Kim. And it looked like the more mundane things – for example, cheese: there is even a comic theory that the satellite is made from this particular product.
RIA Novosti invited scientists to tell what would happen, whether at another satellite of the Earth, as well as to imagine that the moon really is made of glass, gold, or even cheese.
© Infographics. Alexei Timatkov / Eugene Ivanov
great promise – “Gazprom” would be interested
“The moon still malosimpatichnye body – lifeless, waterless, no atmosphere. Flights until there were only a matter of prestige,” – said in an interview with RIA Novosti senior researcher at the State Sternberg Astronomical Institute of Moscow State University Vladimir Surdin.
He called a few “candidates” for the role of Earth’s satellite, and one of them is Europe: it revolves around the size of Jupiter and is not very different from the moon, but looks completely different – it covers the ice, “peel”, so the water there, at least in the form of ice vast amount. And under the ice at all, according to scientists, lies the ocean – its depth can be up to a hundred kilometers. On the moon, the water quite a bit, but it is important in any expedition: it is possible not only to drink, says Surdin, but also provide its technology and even get her out of rocket fuel.
“To master such a satellite (Europe) would be much easier than our moon – the main obstacle in the expeditions on our satellite was that all must carry with them, and if the water is not necessary to carry, it would be much easier,” – said the expert.
other “candidate” in the satellites could be Titan orbiting Saturn. It has the atmosphere in which no oxygen, but the pressure therein is approximately the same as in the world. If the main obstacle on the Moon for astronauts – this is a vacuum and need heavy armor to move, then on Titan, said Surdin, this problem would have been solved.
Moreover, it has lakes liquefied gas – methane and other hydrocarbons. “They’re thin, because it’s cold, but if closer to the Sun Titan and” put “it in place of the moon, then it is, of course, would be warmer. Giant lake of liquid gas would evaporate, the whole atmosphere of Titan would be full of them – in general , we would have a useful field. “Gazprom” would be interested in that, “- added Surdin.
Satellite – Centre for Tourism
Titan, whether it is a satellite of the earth, would cause interest not only specialists but also for ordinary people. The development could get a “tourism”, a cosmic scale is relatively inexpensive – it would cost about a hundred million dollars, calculated expert.
“On Everest people walking around with cans of oxygen – so you can walk around on Titan. People are flying into orbit at his own expense, and so a little more money – and would fly to Titan, which is drawn by the Earth” – says Surdin .
seekers attracted to new experiences and Hyperion, Saturn’s moon: it is unique for its caves, which is literally permeated with – they would be very interesting to explore. “The force of gravity there is microscopic, people would weigh 100 grams: it would be easy to jump, fall into wells safely. And most importantly, an amazing underground world, dug as a worm-eaten apple, these tunnels – for earthlings it would be at least entertaining “- said the expert.
new satellite – new forms of life?
“Another Moon”, among other benefits, it is possible, would be a subject for study exobiologists looking for other forms of life. For example, the ocean, hiding under the ice dome of Europe, salty, and potentially there may exist some organisms – but make sure it is now quite easy: the satellite of Jupiter long and expensive to fly. Another thing, says Surdin, if Europe was in place of the moon – just three days of flight: people have been consigned to her expedition.
specific interest to exobiologists presented to Io, a satellite of Jupiter-volcano. It is the size of the moon, but is covered by volcanoes, next to each of which there are quite favorable conditions for the emergence of life.
“We have something like that on Earth is in the oceans – there is such a small volcanoes -” black smokers “: it’s warm, a lot of chemically active and thriving local accumulations of life. And at the same Io near volcanoes can be and we would then be able to investigate this matter, explore extraterrestrial life forms, “- said Surdin.
How would life earthlings?
Even if the distance between the Earth and the satellite would not have changed, the changes on our planet would be visible, he said. For example, the height of tides on Earth would be somewhat different, proportional to the mass of the satellite, “instead of” Moon.
“On Earth, tides average about one to two meters high – is not particularly strong burden of sailors, and would instead Titan moon, the tides would be increased to two to four feet high, and in some places would have exceeded 20 meters, this is serious “- says Surdin.
Thus, even though the “new” satellite could be other forms of life, and for researchers, they would be more fun, it is unlikely people moved to the satellite and created there own colony. “The Earth is unique in many ways, including on living conditions. None of that, no matter how to move the satellite back and forth, they can not be created”, – the expert added.
Cheese and glass would change the orbit of the moon and made satellite to shine brighter
Lead researcher SAI Sergei Popov at the request of RIA Novosti presents a fantastic situation than the “replacement” companion: what would have happened whether the moon is made of a different material – glass, gold, and even cheese. In his opinion, it is unlikely there were any dramatic changes, but the “deviation” from the norm still would.
Thus, the Moon of cheese, gold or glass have changed dramatically weight: average density of cheese is approximately three times less than the average density of the satellite, the glass is nearly the same as that of gold, however, is more than about 5.8 times. Accordingly, changes and lunar orbit – the golden moon, at the expense of the greatest mass, it will be the most “compact”, while the cheese – the biggest.
also change the brightness of the new moon: in itself it is quite gray, and gets its shine by reflecting sunlight – Aristotle called it celestial mirror. However, if the moon was made of glass, gold, or cheese, the night would have been much lighter.
“Golden Moon will be the brightest, the glass in the beginning would be darker, but this again depends on the type of glass. then it will start very quickly crack and become white, so too will be fairly bright object”, – said Popov. Cheese Moon and probably the first time would be the second largest after the golden glow.
Expeditions to the golden moon – unprofitable business
In the case of a “replacement” of satellites prospects are pretty obvious – but this is not true of cheese, a glass or gold Moon: other material of this celestial body would not allow earthlings to find new forms of life, or, for example, to enrich themselves, to fly to the satellite of our gold the planet.
Glass Moon would be like a real moon, so this option Popov considers the most “boring”. If the moon was made of cheese, then on subsequent expeditions, astronauts will be easier to obtain important life support systems of matter, but on the other hand, suggests the expert, landing on it would be more difficult.
In addition, trips to the moon and the development of the necessary technology – it’s an expensive business. “Therefore, to carry gold from the moon, even if it’s possible to rake in chunks from the surface, most likely, it would be disadvantageous: it would cost the almost more than his production on Earth. This should be a fantastic, rare element, which the world is small, and we even its price offhand do not know – then it would be profitable, “- said Popov.
global change would not have to wait
“If we sit on earth and tide wait, for us in the first place is important mass of the object and its orbit. If the moon is gold, the orbit will be leaner period – less weight and it will come out a little more. means that on the ground these new lunar tides will be stronger and more likely to repeat, “- said the expert.
In the case of the cheese situation would be reversed – in this case, although the weight of such a moon would be less than this moon in deep space, it would not fly away, suggests the expert.
See also : Does the Sun falls into hibernation, there is a “left-handed gene”, can we look to convince the interlocutor, and much more – in the latest issue of the weekly From “Science Monday” on ria.ru.
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