Name: What If Earth Picked Up a Second Moon?
Uploaded: 2020-04-05T02:30:05.000Z
Duration: 5 min 4 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

Transition words & phrases

Without it, our tides wouldn't be as high,

But you know what? What we call “the Moon”

isn't the only moon the Earth has ever had.

captures a tiny, rocky body, forcing it to

But what if Earth managed to capture something

It might sound like a lot of fun, but once you

you might start to hope this never happens.

Now, not all of the consequences would be catastrophic.

For instance, if this second moon orbited close to Earth,

And while that would affect nocturnal animals

and make it easier for some predators to hunt,

We'd likely be thinking more about stuff like tides.

If we picked up another moon, its gravity

That means a lot of people would probably

If the moons were orbiting at different distances

from Earth, they'd also be traveling at different speeds.

And that would further mess up our tidal system,

regular spacing between high and low tides.

The time between those tides would speed up,

And that would threaten not just aquatic life,

but human infrastructure, which would get

This extra force wouldn't just pull on Earth's water, though:

It would pull on everything on and underneath the Earth's surface, too.

This would increase Earth's volcanic activity,

and the frequency of other natural disasters,

Which are rarely good for life - or for humans.

On an even longer scale, this second moon

Earth's rotation because it's orbiting around us

But a second satellite — especially one close to the Moon's size

Exactly how, though, would, of course, depend on its orbit,

but for the sake of simplicity, let's say it orbited

in the same direction as our current Moon,

That satellite would help slow down our rotation,

Which might sound kind of nice, because I could use

a couple extra minutes a day, until you realize

that satellite would also gradually creep outward

because of some specific orbital mechanics.

Eventually, it would smash into the Moon,

which would almost definitely bring about

Like I said… the moonlight probably isn't

the thing we should be most worried about.

At the end of the day, of course the odds of

the Earth acquiring another Moon-like satellite are

very slim, but there is something to learn here.

These kinds of scenarios remind you of how important

the specific conditions around our planet are.

Like, if our Moon had a different orbit or mass,

So even though we usually take it for granted,

maybe we should appreciate our Moon a little bit more…

look up there and say like - hey buddy, thanks,

You're always helping us out. Thanks for being a friend.

But don't try and pick up a third friend. Just us.

Just the two of us. Building castles in the sky.

Understanding how a second moon would affect

the Earth depends on an understanding of gravity

And if you're looking to build up your STEM skills

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What If Earth Picked Up a Second Moon?

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