What would Earth be like w/o a big moon?

[newtonian]

ehkzu - gazillions won't do. You need to punch in the actual numbers.<br /><br />Ever here of Drake's equation?<br /><br />Or my theory?<br /><br />In the latter I explored an upper limit in our universe based on the age of the universe (c. 14 billion years), the mass of the universe (c. 10^79 atomic mass units), and fastest possible chemical reaction time (10^24 per second) to posit an upper limit on the number of chemical reaction products formed in our universe since our universe began, namely: 10^122.<br /><br />Then I noted that any chemical reaction product with a probability of less than 10^122 against would likely never have formed anywhere in our universe since our universe began.<br /><br />And also a predicted probable rate of formation for other products, such as a statistical protein with a probability of 10^112 against, namely: one per year.<br /><br />You need to do similarly with this question.<br /><br />Can you post any documented estimate for any of the numbers involved for our fine tuned moon?<br /><br />You all - anyone?

 

[alpha_taur1]

"The problem is that of probabilities. "<br /><br />I'm going to go slightly OT, but I read a paper once on Astrobiology that quoted some probabilities. I'll try to find it. It quoted a derived probability of 10^-14 that extra-solar seeding could be possible, and a 0.3 - 0.6 probability regarding Mars- Earth seeding. <br /><br />I guess you're starting with a probability of 1 that life arose in the Solar System, it raises the odds slightly for Mars - Earth seeding, but I thought at the time that 0.6 was a little on the high side.<br /><br />It's interesting to compare probabilities between papers.

 

[nexium]

Hi Alpha: Perhaps you and the paper have a special meaning for seeding. I think you will agree that most of the matter in the nebula from which the solar system was formed, came from a variety of stars. Also ions, and micrometeorites arrive every second from outside our solar system. If the topic is transpermia (spelling) a lot of assumptions would be nesessary to get a probability. Neil

 

[alpha_taur1]

I know that extrasolar material enters the solar system quite regularly, but from the viewpoint of shielding against radiation, these extremely tiny diamonds and silcon carbide fragments would hardly be candidates for panspermia.<br /><br />I would also doubt if a meteorite has been found that is extrasolar (as opposed to those that formed at the same time as the solar system ) of course we're looking at a small sample of geological time.