I may just be taking the thread further astray by responding, but… the conclusion that God made the moon does not answer the OP which asked how. Your answer is like someone asking how to make a souffle and you responding with “French chefs make souffles.” True, but not very instructive or interesting.
I believe God made the moon too, and the evidence appears to suggest that He used a collision with the Earth. There’s nothing in verse 16 to suggest otherwise, though the evidence doesn’t entirely fit the standard interpretation of the rest of Genesis, but things in life rarely come in nice neat packages. We have to do the work.
But the best thing about the earth’s moon is that its just the right size and distance away from us that it can give us the coolest sight in the world:
For now. Millions of years ago it was closer and appeared larger. It’s moving away at about an inch or two a year. Fortunately the sun will consume all of its fuel, perhaps engulfing the Earth in its outer atmosphere, long before the Moon will escape entirely.
[Sorry, minor OP hijack again – Hey at least I’m not on the Great Debates threshold!]
I’ve heard this before. Does anyone know how old this lets the moon be? (At some point it would have crashed into Earth so this must provide an upper limit on age.) A linear equation seems to allow for 15 billion years, but I know it’s not linear here. Also, since the moon causes the tides, does that information also provide an upper limit? For example, from tidal waves or other factors the moon might have on our planet?
The Moon is about 4.5 billion years old – about 30 to 50 million years younger than the solar system.
As I, a non-astronomer, understand it, the Moon’s gravity pulls against the Earth creating a bulge (tides). The gravitational ‘torque’ of the bulge is giving the moon a little extra push every time around. As the Moon gets faster, its orbit gets wider.
But as I said, IANAA. Someone who knows more will surely provide a better answer shortly.
Right, plus the Earth’s spin causes the bulge to precede a bit, causing an off center attraction, giving the moon a bit of acceleration. It’s basically that the spin of the Earth is transferred to the Moon’s orbital velocity.
Hmmmm; I seem to recall that it’s predicted that if the universe and Earth/Moon last long enough the Moon will eventually stop getting farther away, then start coming closer until it gets too close and breaks up.