Moon
The Moon and the Earth suffer deformities due to the gravitational force between them. Reuters

For the first time ever, NASA satellites have observed that there are regular deformities on the Earth and the Moon because of the strong gravitational relationship between them.

Those living near the beach notice the effects everyday because of the tides. It is said that the resulting gravity creates an effect so powerful due to the free movement of the water. A visible distortion, affecting both the near and far side of the moon, is observed because the moon has no surface water.

The Moon, despite of being tough, seem to wobble on the near side. This is because the Moon faces the Earth constantly. Eath's force is so strong that it can create a bulge about 20 inches in height on the near side and far side.

Erwan Mazarico, a scientist working at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said, "The deformation of the moon due to Earth's pull is very challenging to measure, but learning more about it gives us clues about the interior of the moon."

To learn more about lunar body tide, researchers combined data from Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter and the Gravity Recovery Interior Laboratory(GRAIL) satellites. The Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has been used to investigate the Moon for the last five years and the GRAIL satellites, before impacting on the surface towards the end of 2012, circled the night-time space rock for a year.

Using the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter satellite, NASA witnessed the effect. This is now being used to study the moon more deeply, measuring thousands of locations. Height measurements of each spot were compared by the scientists so that there would be enough data for the lunar tide to be tracked. These findings, that the researchers have made by making collaborative calculations, helps improve our understanding of the moon's interior.

John Keller, LRO project scientist at Goddard, said, "This study provides a more direct measurement of the lunar body tide and much more comprehensive coverage than has been achieved before."

For more information, visit TechnoBuffalo and Forbes websites.