What happens within the Roche limit<\/strong><\/h2>There are exceptions, but generally speaking any material outside the Roche limit of a larger body will coalesce and go into orbit around that body, while any material inside it will tend to disintegrate.<\/p>
This happens because gravity<\/a> is not equal everywhere. The Moon orbits Earth, for instance, due to the latter\u2019s gravitational pull \u2013 \u00a0but that pull is a lot stronger on the side of the Moon that faces Earth than it is on the far side.<\/p>When a small object nears a much larger one, that disparity between the gravity experienced on either side increases, and can eventually cause the object to break up.<\/p>
The Earth-Moon Roche limit, according to NASA, is about 19,900km, meaning that, were the Moon to drift that close to Earth, it would start to break up.<\/p>
Even at the closest point in its orbit, the\u00a0Moon\u00a0is 363,104 km (225,623 miles) from\u00a0Earth, so there’s no danger of it breaking up (and, as it happens, the Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth).<\/p>
When a small object nears a much larger one, that disparity between the gravity experienced on either side increases, and can eventually cause the object to break up.<\/p>
The Earth-Moon Roche limit, according to NASA, is about 19,900km, meaning that, were the Moon to drift that close to Earth, it would start to break up.<\/p>
Even at the closest point in its orbit, the\u00a0Moon\u00a0is 363,104 km (225,623 miles) from\u00a0Earth, so there’s no danger of it breaking up (and, as it happens, the Moon is slowly drifting away from Earth).<\/p>
![\"Saturn's](\"https:\/\/c02.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/48\/2019\/03\/Cassini-mimas-05f9f08.jpg\")