The Gravity
The Gravity
The Gravity
se Earth is so much more massive than you, your force doesn’t really have an effect on our planet.
moon in orbit around Earth. The gravitational pull of the moon pulls the seas towards it, causing the ocean tides. Gravity creates stars and planets by pulling together the
s principle. If you shine a flashlight upwards, the light will grow imperceptibly redder as gravity pulls it. You can't see the change with your eyes, but scientists can measur
strong enough to keep anything, even light, from escaping.
s gravity keeps Earth in orbit around it, keeping us at a comfortable distance to enjoy the sun's light and warmth. It holds down our atmosphere and the air we need to bre
ger over places with more mass underground than over places with less mass. NASA uses two spacecraft to measure these variations in Earth’s gravity. These spacecraf
e slightly weaker gravity and areas in red have slightly stronger gravity. Image credit: NASA/University of Texas Center for Space Research
led important details about our planet. For example, GRACE monitors changes in sea level and can detect changes in Earth’s crust brought on by earthquakes.