If the Earth's rotation were reversed, what would happen to the Moon?

Oh boy....I hate these questions! The orbital direction of the Moon would not change because that has no direct coupling to the Earth. The fact that the Moon raises water tides on the Earth would also not be changed, except that the Moon would now rise in the west and set in the East, and instead of the water tides rising slightly eastward of the line of centers, it would rise slightly westward of the line of centers. The orbit of the Moon would continue to drift outwards, but at a different rate because the sources of tidal friction at the ocean bottom would now be different than before. Beyond that, I cannot speculate.


Copyright 1997 Dr. Sten Odenwald
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