I know this is probably a lousy question, and I'm sorry if it is. What if Earth had another moon closer than Luna and rings in between the two moons? How would Earth's culture and environment be affected by rings and two moons on border patrol? I understand that this would probably not be possible, because tidal forces will destroy the rings, but what if? Maybe Luna II's tidal forces will balance out Luna's (and Sol's) and nothing will happen? This is a lot to ask.
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$\begingroup$ I said I'm sorry if it was a bad question. $\endgroup$– Geoplayer123Apr 16, 2017 at 1:21
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$\begingroup$ The problem is that you made the question much too broad. There are so many, many ways that Earth's culture could be different. And it is also likely that it might be pretty much the same. $\endgroup$– PhiterosApr 16, 2017 at 1:37
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1$\begingroup$ You might be interested into the Related Questions section on the right panel, particularly If Earth had rings would humans have discovered it wasn't flat sooner? and How to naturally maintain a Earth-sized Planetary Ring System and the possible periodic bombardment that can ensue? $\endgroup$– LinkyuApr 16, 2017 at 1:42
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$\begingroup$ When I originally thought of this, I mainly wanted to know how the two moons would break the rings, the other questions are just extra. $\endgroup$– Geoplayer123Apr 16, 2017 at 1:57
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$\begingroup$ There is a video called If Earth Had Rings that explains most of the things. $\endgroup$– Geoplayer123Apr 16, 2017 at 2:04
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I would imagine that the culture on earth would be deeply affected. Heres why:
1) RELIGION — the moon has played a large part in religions worldwide for a long time now. Think Greek goddess Artemis, or her Roman equivalent, Diana. If there were suddenly two moons, those mythologies would immediately be altered, and drastically. There would have to be new myths to explain the rings, too.
2) TIDES — with two moons and rings, the tides would be unpredictable and dangerous, resulting in sailing being greatly intensified. It would be too risky to use boats on the ocean too much, so trade would be inhibited and all of general civilization would probably be set back at least a century
3) APOLLO MISSIONS — pretty much speaks for itself.
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4) MOON RINGS — the moons could collect material from the rings and have their own visible rings. They’d also probably have a lot more craters in them from impacts with the rings.
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$\begingroup$ Also, literature would be affected a lot: if a single moon has inspired so much poetry then imagine how much more it would be if there were two of them! $\endgroup$ Apr 16, 2017 at 19:23
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$\begingroup$ With rings on top of it! Who knows what craziness might arise! $\endgroup$ Dec 9, 2020 at 14:03