An interesting question to think about is what would happen if the moon exploded? There are a few consequences we would see any changes we would experience here on Earth if the moon exploded.
Imagine the moon exploding and what that would look like. During an explosion, the moon would break apart into many different pieces. Some of these pieces would be large, and other pieces would be small. All of those pieces of moon debris would move in different directions. Some would move away from the Earth, but some would move towards it. What happens to that leftover debris largely depends on the strength of the explosion.
A weak explosion with larger pieces of debris might create new moons around the Earth. Instead of one large moon, we might have several smaller moons. A large explosion might cause the debris to scatter away from the Earth, or the debris would fall towards us and create meteors that could hit the surface of our planet. An explosion with a specific amount of power might create a set of rings around our planet, like Saturn. The rocks would orbit around us and create more meteors and meteorites.
If we had more moons, then we would be able to see many more stars at night. The moon casts lots of light during the night, blocking our ability to see distant, faint stars with the naked eye. This would make the night sky “seem” brighter because of the ability to see stars further away.
Similar to what would happen if there was no moon, an moon explosion would change the Earth’s rotation and the size of the Earth’s tide. The moon slows down the Earth’s rotation, but a moon explosion would disrupt the friction. If the explosion doesn’t alter the Earth’s rotation, the lack of moon would cause the Earth to rotate at a constant speed.
This means that every day would be 24 hours long for the rest of the Earth’s existence. The Earth’s tides would also change because the gravity the moon exerts on the oceans would no longer exist. The Earth’s tides would be much smaller.
Perhaps more significant is the fact that the moon affects the tilt of the Earth on its axis. Without the gravitational force of the moon, the Earth’s tilt would destabilize and change severely. It is possible that Earth could tilt over 45 degrees without the moon. With this kind of tilt, the seasons would change, the temperatures across the globe would change significantly, and ice ages would most likely occur on different parts of the globe because they would not experience as much sunlight.
The moon plays a significant role in the relationship of the Earth to other components of our solar system, and it plays an important role in life as we know it on Earth. If the moon exploded, the night sky would change. We would see more stars in the sky, but we would also see more meteors and experience more meteorites. The position of the Earth in space would change and temperatures and seasons would dramatically alter, and our ocean tides would be much weaker.