New report says Earth is to blame for the moon's shrinkage

(Image credit: DIPTENDU DUTTA/AFP/Getty Images)

published 22 September 2015

The moon can point a finger at Earth for the cracks in its crust, a new study reveals. While scientists first noticed that the moon was shrinking — and subsequently cracking — back in 2010, it wasn't until further investigation that researchers could deduce that the ridges in the moon's crust were the consequence of the Earth's gravitational pull, rather than simply growing pains.

What [reserachers] figured out is that the tidal forces of the Earth pulling on the moon, while small, generated enough stress to break the moon's crust in the observed pattern. [The New York Times]

Scientists have counted some 3,200 ridges in the moon's crust at this point, and they believe that the cracks will continue to form.