"Vinnie" <dontspamme@carolina.rr.com> wrote in message
news:gGq_b.27426$%d3.2555955@twister.southeast.rr.com...
|
| A hollow moon in the current orbital path and speed would
| shoot off in to space.

No, it wouldn't.  The mass of the orbiter is irrelevant to the speed and
altitude of the orbit.  But I know what you're trying to get at and your
comment about tides is scientifically astute.  If the moon were more or less
massive than otherwise believed, the earth's orbit and other natural
phenomenon would be noticeably different.  (A lighter moon, for example,
would not perturb comm satellite orbits as much.  Also, the common point -- 
offset from the earth's center of mass -- around which Earth and Moon orbit
would be different, i.e., closer to the Earth's center of mass.)

The "hollow moon" theories sometimes claim the hollow moon's mass is
unchanged, but that its material is distributed in a dense hollow shell.
Compare a solid wooden ball and a hollow metal ball.  They may have the same
diameter and the same mass, but obviously differ in their internal
configuration and in the density of any sample.

The "hollow moon" theories derive from many misconceptions, only one of
which is the "rang like a bell" statement.  William Brian, for example,
formulated his hollow moon theory upon an incorrect computation of the
gravitational neutral point between Earth and Moon.  (Cf. Bate, et al.,
_Fundamentals of Astrodynamics_, p. 336.)

But not all "hollow moon" advocates ignore the problems of physics.  At
least not the ones you're thinking of.

-- 
                                          |
The universe is not required to conform   |  Jay Windley
to the expectations of the ignorant.      |  webmaster @ clavius.org