science ๐ช Venus might have self-destroyed its moon
New research suggests Venus might have destroyed its own moon through planetary mechanics. This theory, proposed by UC Riverside astrophysicist Stephen Kane, posits that Venus's slow rotation caused the moon to spiral inward. The study modeled hypothetical moons with masses ranging from half to ten times Earth's moon. Under these conditions, the tidal evolution would eventually drive a Venusian moon into the planet's surface. This finding has implications for how we assess exoplanet habitability. ๐ช