Suppose the moon underwent a single, massive, large-object bombardment event. About what number (or range) of about what mean mass of objects could shorten the synodic month by about 1.5633%?
(Assume the moon is not broken up.)
Corollary: Should we expect the moon also to orbit more closely to the earth in result?
By the way the question is historical. There is at least one ancient text that states that rocks “hurled to the earth” from the skies, whereupon the synodal month shortened from 30 days to the current value. That being “outside my field,” literary scholars don’t generally tackle it. So, is there a general way to approach the problem for antiquarians lacking a technical background in physics?
Hoping for an answer such as, say, ‘If 100 objects of a mean mass of 100 tons each struck the moon at a typical velocity of __, over a period of three weeks, then the synodal period could shorten by 1.56%.’ Or, ‘It would be impossible to shorten the synodal period of the moon 1.56% in an asteroid bombardment, because’…
An answer might also help in interpreting the ancient astronomical vocabulary, which so far is translated word for word as is.
Also, if relevant, I date the text’s putative asteroid bombardment to around 3044 BCE.
Thank you!