Lunar Recession of the Moon
by Owen Borville
February 27, 2019
Astronomy
Lunar recession is the process that occurs when the Earth's moon gradually moves further away from the Earth's gravitational pull during the lunar orbit. The moon is receding about 3.8 centimeters per year from the Earth, or about 1.5 inches per year, according to NASA data (1). Therefore, if we know that the moon is moving away from the Earth and we know the rate that it is moving away, we can calculate the time frame since it was near Earth or touching Earth and have a good estimate of the age of the moon and the Earth. Calculations have shown that the moon would have been touching the Earth in much less time than the proposed old earth age of the moon of 4.5 billion years ago. The calculations by creationists show that the moon would be touching earth in less than 1.5 billion years, which is much less than the mainstream scientists' proposed 4.5 billion year age of the moon. Lunar recession therefore shows that the moon and earth are much younger than believed by mainstream scientists. Of course, these calculations also assume that the lunar recession rate was constant over time. However, the recession rate was likely faster in the past, which would set the time frame much shorter and in line with the creationist timeline of 6,000 years.
Gravitational forces also cause tides on Earth, where the Earth's oceans bulge outward as the moon orbits the Earth. These tides were believed to be greater in the past when the moon was closer to the Earth. The moon could not have been closer than 11,500 miles from the Earth or it would have been broken apart into pieces by the tidal forces of the Earth according to a phenomena known as the Roche Limit, or the closest distance a satellite planet can approach the center of a planetary body without being destroyed by tidal forces or the gravitational field of the planet that it is approaching. The rings of Saturn are believed to have formed from this phenomenon.
Evolutionists believe that the Earth's moon is 4.5 billion years old, which is similar to the evolutionist assumed age of the Earth. However, using the known rate of recession and the evolutionist's age of the moon, the moon would be much further from the Earth than it is presently known to be, which is 239,000 miles (384,400 kilometers). In addition, creationists believe that the initial recession rate of the moon was faster and gradually slowed down during the 6,000 year time frame of the Earth's existence. When the moon was closer to the Earth, creationists postulate that gravitational forces would have caused the moon to orbit and recede faster than currently. Therefore, the moon must be much younger than the assumed age by evolutionists and is compatible with the creationist time frame of 6,000 years.
(1) <https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html> (updated July 3, 2017) on April 22, 2018.
by Owen Borville
February 27, 2019
Astronomy
Lunar recession is the process that occurs when the Earth's moon gradually moves further away from the Earth's gravitational pull during the lunar orbit. The moon is receding about 3.8 centimeters per year from the Earth, or about 1.5 inches per year, according to NASA data (1). Therefore, if we know that the moon is moving away from the Earth and we know the rate that it is moving away, we can calculate the time frame since it was near Earth or touching Earth and have a good estimate of the age of the moon and the Earth. Calculations have shown that the moon would have been touching the Earth in much less time than the proposed old earth age of the moon of 4.5 billion years ago. The calculations by creationists show that the moon would be touching earth in less than 1.5 billion years, which is much less than the mainstream scientists' proposed 4.5 billion year age of the moon. Lunar recession therefore shows that the moon and earth are much younger than believed by mainstream scientists. Of course, these calculations also assume that the lunar recession rate was constant over time. However, the recession rate was likely faster in the past, which would set the time frame much shorter and in line with the creationist timeline of 6,000 years.
Gravitational forces also cause tides on Earth, where the Earth's oceans bulge outward as the moon orbits the Earth. These tides were believed to be greater in the past when the moon was closer to the Earth. The moon could not have been closer than 11,500 miles from the Earth or it would have been broken apart into pieces by the tidal forces of the Earth according to a phenomena known as the Roche Limit, or the closest distance a satellite planet can approach the center of a planetary body without being destroyed by tidal forces or the gravitational field of the planet that it is approaching. The rings of Saturn are believed to have formed from this phenomenon.
Evolutionists believe that the Earth's moon is 4.5 billion years old, which is similar to the evolutionist assumed age of the Earth. However, using the known rate of recession and the evolutionist's age of the moon, the moon would be much further from the Earth than it is presently known to be, which is 239,000 miles (384,400 kilometers). In addition, creationists believe that the initial recession rate of the moon was faster and gradually slowed down during the 6,000 year time frame of the Earth's existence. When the moon was closer to the Earth, creationists postulate that gravitational forces would have caused the moon to orbit and recede faster than currently. Therefore, the moon must be much younger than the assumed age by evolutionists and is compatible with the creationist time frame of 6,000 years.
(1) <https://nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetary/factsheet/moonfact.html> (updated July 3, 2017) on April 22, 2018.
