• Question: what would happen if there was no moon ... would there be no night????

    Asked by wickedday123 to Mike, Pip, Tim, Tom on 4 Jul 2012.
    • Photo: Tom Lister

      Tom Lister answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      The moon has nothing to do with night. It is more obvious at night, but is no more likely to be visible at night than during the day. Night occurs when the part of the planet you are on is turned away from the sun.

      However, if we had no moon, then we would have no tides (or not to the same extent at least, the sun still contributes to the tides a little). This would have a huge effect on coastal life and I imagine it would even effect our weather. Also, the light it does provide at night (during the times it is visible) is very useful for nocturnal hunters – so perhaps we would not have so many predators at night time, or they would have bigger eyes, better ears etc to compensate?

    • Photo: Philippa Bird

      Philippa Bird answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      We’d have darker night!!

    • Photo: Tim Stephens

      Tim Stephens answered on 4 Jul 2012:

      Also, what would dogs howl at?

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