I would like to share one of the rabbit holes my mind goes down:
See, I was watching this documentary on the formation of the moon, and for some reason I started thinking "what if we had ended up with 2 moons, instead of 1?"
Now there is a bunch of physics that would be in play in this situation, but since I don't understand it, I am going to skip it, and just talk about the effect on humans (assuming we evolved on this alternate Earth).
See, when you look up at the sky, there are the stars, and 7 objects that draw your attention: the Sun, the Moon, and 5 of the planets.
The moon in particular drew a lot of attention, and is why we have a lunar calendar and a day of the week named after it.
Assuming that in our alternate situation, the 2 moons ended up being roughly the same size, about half the size of our moon, they would still be bigger than anything in our sky other than the Sun, so would probably still get a significant role in our myths.
For the sake of this thought experiment, I decided that one moon would be close to setting when the other was rising. I don't know how likely that would be, but again, physics.
I pictured people deciding that people would tell stories about a cursed pair of lovers, who pursue each other, but can never embrace, or maybe they would be seen as a pair of over active kids playing an eternal game of Catch Me if You Can.
Well, folks, what do you think?
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Comments
Yes!
I think that’s exactly the kind of myth people would come up with. I seem to recall there were even some myths not crazy far off from that here on Earth 1.0 concerning the Sun and the Moon (although sometimes the Sun “catches” the moon).
Something tells me that a pair of moons would have settled into an orbit where they would be on exactly opposite positions vis-a-vis the planet, though I may be wrong about that. I wonder if tides would essentially vanish as a result of the equilibrium?
Fun stuff, Dot!
— Emma
Opposite orbits
I was going to make a similar comment. I am not an astrophysicist, but my understanding is that a system like what is described would be generally unstable, or at least chaotic and of uncertain long-term stability. Look up "three-body problem." That said, there are some stable orbits, and it could happen.
Jupiter is able to have multiple moons the size of Earth's moon or bigger because it is much, much bigger than those moons. In its case, the moons orbit at different distances, almost like a mini solar system. The same dynamics that allow different planets to orbit the sun at different distances apply.
Another fun thing to look up is "Lagrangian points." Basically, for any two bodies in a stable orbit, there are five points where other, smaller objects can orbit in equilibrium with the other bodies. Three of these points, called L1, L2, and L3, are located where the three objects would be in a line, like your suggestion. However, the stability is limited to objects that are small relative to the other two bodies. The other two points L4 and L5 are located so that each forms an equilateral triangle with the two bodies. The orbits here are more stable, and there are small objects (not Earth's moon-sized objects!) that orbit stably in the L4 and L5 points of the Sun-Earth and Sun-Jupiter systems and also those for the Sun and some of the other planets.
I'll duck the physics
and concentrate on the myth.
I agree that two lovers is an obvious myth.
I also can see a hunter-prey mythology,
Or why not a combination?
Mars Has Two Moons
They are different sizes and orbit differently, often one overtaking the other. I don't think that two moons of the same size would necessarily orbit on opposite sides of the earth. Their orbital planes and orbital distances could be quite different.
We'll never know!