| MadSci Network: Astronomy |
Certainly. The gravitational force that the earth and moon place upon each other causes torque, which in turn slows the rates of rotation. The moon, being much smaller than the earth, has succumbed to this torque and is tidally locked in its orbit so that 1 rotation on its axis equals 1 revolution about the earth. The moon is affecting the earth also, our rotation is slowing so that the days are longer than in milleniums previous, and due to conservation of angular momentum the moon is receding away from the earth so that its angular diameter is somewhat smaller than in milleniums past.
Any other massive body, whether orbiting the earth or the moon, would experience these gravitational forces (torques) and obey conservation of angular momentum. How fast tidal locking may take place depends greatly on the distances and masses of the objects and their orbits. The dance between three bodies is enormously more complicated than for only two. When there is just mass A and B, you have forces between A on B and B on A. Add 1 more and there are forces between A on B, A on C, B on A, B on C, and finally C on A and C on B. So predicting exactly what would happen and when would be very difficult!
For more information, see http://www.cita.utoronto.ca/~murray/GLG130/Lectures/Lecture_twelve.html
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