I just thought about something.....

What would happen if a comet struck our moon?

Lets say for example so called Elenin or any other comet crashed on the dark side of the moon.

What would be the effects on us here on earth other than the obvious tidal changes?

Think great changes will happen but every thing adapt accordingly. It might have some influence on the magma within earth the magma is liquid aswell, would not mind knowing myself if the moon has influence on magma.

Very interesting question. I would think that the extreme number of variables involved would make an accurate prediction extremely difficult.

That could mess things up a fair bit, depending on the size of the comet/asteroid, doesn't the moon act as stabilizer to stop the earth from wobbling too much?

reply to post by dreamfox1


Obviously, it would entirely depend on the size of said object. However, judging by the looks of the moon, it has happened several thousand times in the past, and the Earth is still here. I'd imagine it would take a fairly large impact to make any significant changes to our planet. Great question, though. I'm looking forward to seeing more detailed responses from those who are more knowledgeable in the subject.

Cheers,
Strype

reply to post by dreamfox1


Earth would probably get pummeled with debris.

Many minor strikes as well as a few large ones. Chances are good that it would be a ELE.

maybe like this??
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/74084bacbd9a.jpg[/atsimg]

At the very least it would break the hypnotic resonance that keeps us in this lower vibration. That is the hypothesis of some. I can't agree nor disagree, because I don't have facts... but it does make a certain amount of sense when you think about the earth's schumann resonance...why wouldn't it affect it.

Watch the movie 'Impact'
it is EXACTLY what you just asked

Heres a link: www.letmewatchthis.ch...


Its a great movie imo, good watch

Our main issue i think would be if the moon broke up and caused parts to hurdle towards earth, I also think that main pieces would still stay up there in larger chunks then we may end up with more than 1 moon!

As the moon affects our tides and weather i would assume that we would get some problems due to that,

That would be the more worrying scenario, It would possible set the earths Axis out of sync, The moon stabilizes the axial orientation of the earth,

Here is a link that may help answer some of your questions,

If we had no moon

The Moon has been a stabilizing factor for the axis of rotation of the Earth. If you look at Mars, for instance, that planet has wobbled quite dramatically on its axis over time due to the gravitational influence of all the other planets in the solar system. Because of this obliquity change, the ice that is now at the poles on Mars would sometimes drift to the equator. But the Earth’s moon has helped stabilize our planet so that its axis of rotation stays in the same direction. For this reason, we had much less climatic change than if the Earth had been alone. And this has changed the way life evolved on Earth, allowing for the emergence of more complex multi-cellular organisms compared to a planet where drastic climatic change would allow only small, robust organisms to survive.

Interesting question

Sales of newspapers would increase.
Rupert Murdoch is probably planning such an event right now.

reply to post by asala
Nice. I had not read that before about the stabilizing effect on the Earth's axis.

The first thing I thought of in regards to an asteroid knocking the moon out of orbit, is the massive effect on the tidal ebb and flow. I believe if the moon were knocked to an orbit further away, the influence would be less, and the sea level would rise due to the fact that the waters of the Earth would not be stretched out so much at the equator. Also I believe if the moon were knocked towards a closer orbit, the effect would be more severe tidal differences-- high tide ever so higher, low tide much lower.

I have no basis for this, save for my own imagination. (Well, and pics I've seen of the current tidal effect by the moon.

I think it could be far worse than an impact straight to Earth in some cases. If the object were big enough to destroy the moon's structure and push it all some seriously huge debris towards earth the outcome would be catastrophic, because we would have to deal not only with the impact(s) themsleves but also - which imo is far more dangerous - with oceans being out of control. Basically it is a very interesting scenario fascinating not only scientists and doom theorists but also authors and directors for many many years. Personally I even don't want to think about possible outcomes.

Earth with rings around it, just noone may be here to see it.