Moon and Earth

(The) Earth’s rotation, he added, is also affected by the tidal pull of the moon. Because of the moon, the spin of the Earth is slowing down at a rate of about 1 millisecond per year. The Earth spun around at a faster clip in the past, enough so that during the time of the dinosaurs a day was about 22 hours long.

In addition to slowing the Earth’s rotation, the moon’s tidal pull is causing the moon to slowly recede from the Earth, at a rate of about 1 millimeter per year. In the distant past, the moon was closer. "It would have appeared much larger in our sky than it does now," Luhman said.

Millions of years from now, he added, the cycle of a day on Earth will likely stretch to 25 or 26 hours. People will have to wait a little longer for the rising of the sun.