General effects (and narrative practicality) of a moon with an extreme elliptic orbit

This is more for fluff and illustrative exotica, but I'm keen on an idea where my new world has a moon that orbits elliptically, but has a fast inward close orbit followed by a longer round trip the other way. I just want a moon that rather than being observed waxing and waning, becomes distinctly smaller and then bigger to the point where it is a large presence in the sky.

As I say, it's more an aesthetic than practical notion. But if, in reality, such an orbit would start ripping oceans up and crushing forests, then I'll chuck a nebula into the sky or something... As usual, I've tried and failed to get my head round the "Astrophysics for dummies" blogs and articles that explains this stuff via wikipedia and such.

Any thoughts, views or opinions on whether any major physical impacts as a result of this phenomenon would massively effect a human settlement, would be really helpful.

posted almost 5 years ago

Tommy‭

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