00:00Right now, as you watch this, the Moon is moving away from Earth.
00:04Every single year, it drifts 3.8 centimetres further.
00:09And over time, the consequences for life on this planet are enormous.
00:14The Moon does not sit in a fixed orbit.
00:17It is slowly spiralling outward, pulled by the same tidal forces it uses to pull our oceans.
00:23Here is how it works.
00:25The tidal bulge has its own gravitational pull, and it tugs the Moon forward.
00:30That extra energy pushes the Moon into a slightly higher, wider orbit.
00:35Every year, consistently, 3.8 centimetres.
00:40This has been measured precisely using lasers.
00:44During the Apollo missions, astronauts placed retroreflectors on the lunar surface.
00:49Scientists have been firing lasers at these panels since 1969.
00:53The Moon is definitively moving away.
00:56Now, 3.8 centimetres per year sounds tiny.
01:00But over billions of years, it adds up.
01:03Four billion years ago, the Moon was three times closer, and a day lasted only six hours.
01:09Looking forward, in about 600 million years, the Moon will have moved far enough that total solar eclipses will no
01:16longer be possible.
01:17The Moon will appear too small to cover the Sun.
01:20And here is something remarkable.
01:22Right now, today, the Moon sits at almost the perfect distance to produce total solar eclipses.
01:29The Sun is 400 times wider than the Moon, and almost exactly 400 times further away.
01:34The Quran says in Surah Yassin.
01:37And the Moon, we have determined for it phases.
01:41Each is swimming in an orbit.
01:4314 centuries ago.
01:46The Moon is leaving.
01:48Slowly.
01:49Quietly.
01:50Measurably.
01:52And right now, this moment in cosmic history is perhaps the most beautiful it will ever be from our perspective.
02:00Hello, Muslim Space Agency.
02:02Share this with someone who looks at the Moon differently now.
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