Does The Moon Rotate?
Вставка
- Опубліковано 17 чер 2024
- In this short video explainer, Universe Today publisher Fraser Cain explains why we only see one side of the lunar surface, and yet, the Moon does rotate.
www.universetoday.com/19699/do...
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Have you ever noticed that the Moon always looks the same?
Sure, the phase changes, but the actual features on the Moon always look the same from month to month.
Does the Moon rotate? What's going on?
From our perspective here on Earth, the Moon always shows us the same face because it's tidally locked to our planet.
At some point in the distant past, the Moon did rotate from our perspective, but the Earth's gravity kept pulling unevenly at the Moon, slowing its rotation.
Eventually the Moon locked into place, always displaying the same side to us.
But if you looked down on the Earth-Moon system from the north celestial pole, from the perspective of Polaris, the North Star, you'd see that the Moon actually does rotate on its axis.
In fact, as the Moon travels around the Earth in a counter-clockwise orbit every 27.5 days, it also completes one full rotation on its axis - also moving in a counter-clockwise direction.
If you look at a time lapse animation of the Moon moving entirely through its phases over the course of a month, you'll notice a strange wobble, as if the Moon is rocking back and forth on its axis a bit.
This is known as libration.
On average, the Moon is tidally locked to the Earth's surface. But its actual orbit is elliptical, it moves closer and then more distant from the Earth.
When the Moon is at its closest point, it's rotation is slower than its orbital speed, so we see an additional 8 degrees on its eastern side. And then when the Moon is at the most distant point, the rotation is faster than its orbital speed, so we can see 8 degrees on the Western side.
Libration allowed astronomers to map out more of the Moon's surface than we could if the Moon followed a circular orbit.
Until the space age half the Moon was hidden from us, always facing away.
This hemisphere of the Moon was finally first observed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, followed by the first human eyes with Apollo 8 in 1968.
The two hemispheres of the Moon are very different.
While the near side is covered with large basaltic plains called maria, the far side is almost completely covered in craters.
The reasons for this difference is still a mystery to planetary scientists.
So yes, the Moon does rotate.
But its rotation exactly matches its orbit around the Earth, which is why it looks like it never does. - Наука та технологія
![Why Do We See the Same Side of the Moon? - [08]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/k1kjeWJRg2Q/mqdefault.jpg)
![Why Do We See the Same Side of the Moon? - [08]](/img/tr.png)
I’ve got plenty of pictures showing tycho move from 3 to 9 o’clock. Angrycatfish Briggs & Homebrued have been documenting the confounded moon. Take a look for yourself & watch it roll from wax to wane, every night
Instead of calling it a synchronized rotation/orbit, just explain to folks that the moon no longer spins as it once probably did due to the gravitational force of the Earth having pulled it to a near standstill. We can all understand the wobble, but to say that it spins is incorrect because no one on Earth ever sees the far side of the moon.
Yup
no. To say it spins is accurate....because it spins...
@@willoughbykrenzteinburg the only way I’d believe you can only see one side of the moon is if it doesn’t spin. 99% of the people I’ve ever talked to on this issue also believe that the moon doesn’t spin which is why we only see one side of it but in reality NASA is actually telling us the moon does make one complete spin per day but at the same time the far side of the moon never actually points toward Earth. Not that it points toward Earth when we can’t see it but that it never points towards Earth. By physics law if one side of something never points toward you then can’t be spinning. The guy just said the moon makes a complete spin every 24 hours. So either the moon spins which is the definition of rotating on axis or it doesn’t. If they’re not smart enough to figure that out then there’s no way they were ever smart enough to go to it. And the only reason for that is that they know you can’t go to it in the first place.
@kngvsn6551 look up "tidal locking"
And "the guy" never said the moon spins every 24 hours.
Why has it taken me to middle age to wonder whether the Moon rotates on its own axis :facepalm:
When we are younger, our focus is on finding our way in life--jobs, relationships, etc. As we get older, our attention turns more to nature.
An axis is an imaginary object. It is a reference point. But in order for this reference point to be valid it needs a real spin. Let's do a visual experiment. Grab an orange and look at it. Does it have axis?.. Nope. Spin it on a table like a top... you've just created a vertical axis. Now roll it down the hallway - you've just created a horizontal axis. Now imagine this orange is the moon and draw a smiley face on it. This is the "man" on the moon we all see every night. Now tie the orange up with a piece of cord and spin it around you. The "man" always faces you . It rotates around you (earth) but does not spin on its own axis. If you want to you can stab a bamboo skewer through the middle of it to make a fake axis. No spinning. You can call this phenomenon whatever you want (Tidal Locking) but it is not spinning on its axis. If you want to see the axis spin then you can color half of the bamboo skewer with a black marker. Roll that orange and you will see the axis alternating in color from black to normal wood and back to black. Non logical people will say the rope invalidates the experiment. But it does not. You can use anything your put your orange in orbit. A spear, your hand, or gravity, or do it with two magnets (if you really want to see no physical bound). The fact remains the same.
+John Boy I totally agree with you. So NASA's claim about moon rotating around its own axis is wrong, right?
+Ching Howe Doo - Lie or erroneous way of thinking. If you Google Tesla moon rotation you'll find that the great scientist also shared this view.
+John Boy Complete Axial Rotation - Definition
A body can be considered to have completed a full axial rotation upon an internal axis when a point along the equatorial perimeter perpendicular to the axis of rotation has faced every point along the same equatorial plane at least once.
In the case of the moon - It can not be considered to have complete axial rotation inherent in it's motion as many points on the far side equatorial perimeter never face points on the near side equatorial plane. (ie: dark side will never face the earth)
Todays understanding confuses complete axial rotation with complete orbital translation. These are not the same as orbital translation is rotation around the barycenter and does not fulfill the definition of complete internal axial rotation.
how about moon axis is perpendicular to earth facing.. so it can spin 360 degree at the rate of 27 days also revolves around earth in 27days
I had a very loooonnggg argument on this subject in a different channel and I can't imagine how they really defend that the moon is rotating! Hahahaha! I found your argument very on point! God bless you!
This may be stupid but I'm here to learn. If the suns gravitational pull is strong enough to influence the earth and the outer planets, how come the moon is governed by the earths gravitational pull?
That's a good question I never thought of that
I would only guess it's because of its size in relation to and the distance to the earth, and with any planet for that matter, (you might never find a larger moon orbiting a smaller planet) the moon orbits the earth, the planet's orbit the sun, the sun orbits the galaxy, 🎶and the green grass grows all around all around and the green grass grows all around🎶 ;-)
This is a legit good question and I want to know too.
@@dannykraeger1602 the Sun is governing the pull of our moon in the eliptical motion of apogee and perigee. Apogee is when the moon is farther away from the earth being pulled by sun and Perigee is when the moon is closer to earth and being pulled back towards earth.
Well when I think of it as a layman, I always feel like that is the reason these bodies spin on their axis. To create the necessary force and resistance to find a balance and maintain the status quo. But then it makes me feel like I am talking about bodies that are alive and have a mind because when we throw a marble on a surface, they don't decide what they want to do but are rather governed by physics. Only alive bodies have the ability to create resistance against the force of nature. But then earth and moon are part of nature. What a rabbit hole.
I not pleased with this explanation..
That’s really cool and also a little sad. Cool how were matching the rotation to always see the same side but I kinda wish we could see the other side from earth too. How cool would it be to see a planet as close as the moon rotate with the naked eye.
This is misleading. Any perceived rotation of the moon is due to its earth facing orbit. The moon does not rotate from our frame of reference.
Thanks! I love your podcast. This is the first time I've actually seen you. I always picture you as a 25 year old kid when I listen. Such a youthful voice! haha
Thx that was such a simple explanation. I went to three other sites before viewing yours and was more confused after the attempt to explain, too much OVER THINKING. Thx for keeping it short and sweet.
How can the Moon be _tidally locked_ and spinning???
don slater where's gravity on this one,, can it spin away??
don slater
We can't SEE
and we can't FEEL
(U forget this?)
Is a word that starts with (M)
One Moon day (give or take) = 28 Earth days, i.e, it takes 28 days to spin/rotate once on its axis
@John Thor Nope, the earth is an oblate spheroid and rotates on its axis once every 24 hours - FACT.
Thanks for making this clear. This took me back to my Earth & Space class.
i am 19 years old and in college and it barely occurred to me that the moon spins so we should be able to see "the dark side of the moon" and i tried to google it but i apparently cant read therefore youtube and now i don't get it but i am satisfied with this minimal understanding so thanks
The moon rotates around the earth facing one side. The moon itself does an eliptical spin on the face side we see, for example when you spin a coin and it's about to land on one side, you can see the coin is doing an eliptical spin on one side before stopping. That's what our Moon is doing all the time.
The moon wobbles on its own axis due to gravitational fluctuations during its elliptical orbit around Earth. It does NOT spin 360 degrees on its OWN axis as the Earth does. For it to spin completely on its own axis every 28 days and still show the same side to Earth, the Earth would have to be orbiting the moon every 28 days to remain in sync.
Sitting in the stands as a stock car races around an oval track, we are able to see all sides of the car, making it "appear" as if it spins, or rotates on its own axis. Standing in the center of the track, you will always see only the driver's side, making it abundantly clear that the car does NOT spin on its OWN axis.
Jon Cathcart, I couldn't agree more. The moon rotates relative to all objects in space except the one it most immediately orbits. Thus, the perceived rotation is due to the orbit and not an independent rotation like that of the Earth. If we consider this rotation then all objects in space are rotating and we need a new term for what the Earth does on its axis.
Yeah, it's pretty clear. I'm beginning to think this is some kind of soft psyop, like the Mandela effect.
The moon APPEARS to wobble from the Earth because the moon is in an elliptical orbit. This is true. Now...WHY?
Because on object in an elliptical orbit will not have a constant orbital velocity. Sometimes the moon is in part of its orbit where it is traveling faster than others. The closer the moon is to Earth, the faster its orbital speed. The wobble is caused because the MOON IS ROTATING AT A CONSTANT RATE, so sometimes the moon is orbiting FASTER than the rate of rotation - and sometimes it is orbiting SLOWER. This creates the appearance from Earth's perspective that the moon is wobbling (the technical term is libration).
"For it to spin completely on its own axis every 28 days and still show
the same side to Earth, the Earth would have to be orbiting the moon
every 28 days to remain in sync."
OR - the moon would have to be in orbiting the Earth every 28 days - AND IT IS. From a relativistic standpoint, there's not difference between the Earth orbiting the moon and the moon orbiting the Earth. The view from Earth would be the same.
Oh, you're the guy that makes the idiotic oval track argument. I've got news for you. The car is rotating on a central axis. If you consider the car and only the car as a system, that system has angular momentum due to this rotation.
Who told you the earth spins?
@@filoIII What do you think causes the sun and stars to move 360 degrees every 24 hours?
I often hear the disparity between surface features of the moon's near and far sides described as a "mystery," but to me it seems that the far side (since tidal locking, that is) would naturally be more likely to be hit by interplanetary debris drawn in by Earth's gravity. Is this thinking statistically flawed?
Theres a moon base on the dark side. I used to believe that’s dumb, but the more you research, it’s very likely there’s one there
What are the chances of that level of synchrony and perfection, given entropy... A broken glass will never become whole again in a trillion years.
EXACTLY the chances are 0%, and it got that perfectly round, smooth edge how again..
It has nothing to do with sync by chance. As he mentions in the beginning of the video, the earth and moon are tidally locked. This tidal locking is what causes it to synchronize over time. If you want to understand how that works, just look up that term.
Can I offer a hypothesis? The far side of the Moon is covered with more craters because asteroids are free to directly impact that side, no matter how big or small they are. On the close side of the moon, asteroids coming towards there have to compete with Earth's gravity. That means the close side of the Moon takes less hits than the far side of the moon. How's that?
Thank you for posting the video. I liked your depiction of the situation as seen from Polaris. So imagine that same shot, but instead of looking at Earth and the moon you're looking at a tetherball and its pole. (Tidal lock being the rope.) One would never argue that you can only see one side of the tetherball because it is spinning on its own axis, but rather it is spinning on the central axis. Why is this any different?
Thanks for remaining this video. I understand the concept but have struggled to explain it to my niece who asked about it. I was also trying to explain to her why the moon is tidally locked to the earth and you explained it well. Thank you.
The moon _really_ rotates. If it wouldn't rotate around it's axis once a month, from earth it would appear as if it would rotate, ironically. Compare that for a moment to the ISS. It also rotates once per full revolution around it's axis, so it always has the same orientation towards the earth. But the ISS has to do that actively via gyroscopes, magentorquers and reaction wheels. Left alone, it wouldn't rotate at all, so it would face sometimes "down" and sometimes "up".
That's a great way to look at it.
i bet the moon is an alien space station and the aliens dont want us too see them on the far side :o
***** so u have seen it or did someone told u that
and a other thing is gravity i know it exist but how does it work
u seem to know how it works explain please . ever heard about Theory of Anti-Relativity by eric p dollard it makes a lot more sence than the einstein bs
he is demostrating the opposite and proofs it by experiments
that einstein is just wrong in many cases
what's the direction of the man's rotation on its axis? from north to south, or west to east? If it's the first it's easy to see why we can only see one side as it orbits the earth at the same time it rotates on its axis.
Nice one-take Frase!
The aliens know what's going on.
How many axis does the moon have? In your illustration it should be top and bottom from the viewer? But we see it rotate clockwise or counter clockwise from our observation. That would either make the moons North pole or the moons South pole facing us.
A very good explanation thank you
The Moon does NOT rotate on its own axis because the Moon AND its axis are both tidally locked to Earth. If the Moon's axis were considered physically and geometrically independent from the Moon, and fixed on some imaginary universal orientation, then YES the Moon would be considered to "rotate". But, the same way we do not use Sidereal Earth rotation days for our solar clock, we cannot measure the Moon, its axis, and their barycenter with Earth as independent components. They are parts within an interdependent system, within a larger interdependent system, within a larger interdependent system, and so on.
That point is that it all depends on your point of view. If you're looking at it from outside the Earth, the Moon shows you every part of its surface.
More stuff hits the "dark side" whereas the Earth/gravity somewhat shields the "light side". Doesn't that pretty much explain the terrain differences.
OOOH! This works for my project!
Hope your project went well… Six years ago💫😊💫
Yeah, that doesn't seem to be the case. If anything, the Earth's gravity would redirect more objects towards the Moon. The thinking is that a second moon crashed into the backside of the Moon billions of years ago, creating the vastly different hemispheres.
so, why have you not covered the cartwheel the moon is doing nightly ? 180 degree roll from rise to set man . orion rising on his back all SUMMER setting on his face .. same cartwheel the moon is doing ? silence is deepening ya know .
Please please please fix your video and webpage with the transcript about "what is tidal locking" where it claims that "If you could look at the Moon orbiting the Earth from above, you’d see that it orbits once on its axis exactly as long as it takes to orbit once around our planet." ROTATES, not orbits. People are taking this mean that the moon doesn't rotate, yet you obviously know that it does.
Could it be that the differential gravitational pull on the moon from the earth pulls the moon dust to the near side thus covering craters and very slowly renewing the surface?
Common sense says that the presence of the earth should shield the near side of the moon from impacts but common sense is not always right.
***** was just an idea that came off the top of my head. I just Another idea I had as to why the far side has more craters. This would depend heavily on the age of the craters, but could it be that during the forming of the moon the near side solidified much more slowly due to radiated heat from the earth and that impacts were much more common during that time.
It is a fascinating mystery.
I think the animation would have been a bit better with seeing the moon and Earth, then showing it do another lap, but this time the camera follows the moon in it's orbit as the moon it turns. Sort of like the Pen & Teller cup trick. Even when something is explained, it's really not understood until you can see a close up view, even then it still almost seems unbelievable.
Haha. We get to look at the nicer looking side.
Dear Fraser, thank you for your very nice channel. I hope I have subscribed successfully. I Have a question? Is it possible to calculate for how long the moon has been tidally locked.
The Moon is not tidally locked. That's just a theory and if you read the original research paper the authors admit that they just kept adding more factors until they came up with a mathematical model that proved Tidal locking was possible.
In science Maths is like modelling clay. You can add and subtract what ever factors you need to prove whatever point you like.
Every Moon in the solar system is Tidally locked even though Earth is the rare planet with actual Tides!
The problem that fraser and other pseudo scientists who don't have the basic powers of Observation (first requirement of the scientific method is that all Hypotheses should be based on Observable phenomena)
Here is where Fraser and other are completely wrong.
If you walk around the outside of a square building, your position or orientation will change by 90 degrees each time you turn a corner. By the time you've made one trip around the building your position will have changed Four times and you will have faced in four different directions. All in all you will have turned by a total of 360 degrees each time you walk around the building. Fraser thinks that you are spinning on your own axis but you're not. The center of the building is your central point of axial rotation.
If the building was an unusual shape with ten sides, every time you turned a corner your position or orientation would need to rotate by 36 degrees to turn each corner. By the time you've completed one circuit or orbit of the building you will have turned 360 degrees in total. Once more it isn't you who is spinning around on your own axis... In fact you know you're not spinning at all! The central point of your axial rotation is still the center of the building not the center of your body.
Now lets make the building round. We'll mark a point at the center of the building and as you walk around the building the distance from you to the center of the building marks the radius of the circle you make as you walk all the way around. You may have rotated on your walk and your orientation would have gone through 360 degrees of change but you were not spinning around on your own axis you were orbiting a central point of axial rotation which is always at the center of the building.
The Moon (just like every other Moon in the solar system) is rotating around the center of the celestial body that it orbits. The moon is not spinning on it's own central axis because it is not spinning at all. It appears to spin around once for each orbit but that's because it's orientation has to go through a 360 degrees of change. This is proof that the Moon is not spinning on it's own axis, If it was we would see more than one face.
The natural observable phenomena is plain to see. The Moon is not spinning on it's own axis but a stationary body, always facing the Earth as it goes through 360 degrees of orientation or rotation proving that the center of it's axial rotation is the center of the planet.
+billymodo Hello. Glad to see someone who makes sence. You are absolutely correct to say the moon does not spin on its axis. It does turn but not on its axis. Each complete revolution of 360 degrees the moon has no choice but to turn as it orbits earth with same side facing earth always. Many do not understand the basic theory behind an object in orbit. Many fail to see the simplicity of it all. It's like a merry-go round, the platform is turning round and round and everything on it has no choice but to turn with the platform. It's simple as that.
Having said that, this changes many astronomical facts. For instant this offset turning or as I call it an orbital rotation, applies to all things in revolution. To all the moons and planets in orbit. Maybe also to the invisible spinning electrons surrounding its atom. Our earth for example has one extra turn yearly. This is an astronomical fact. There are 365 and 1/4 rotations or 365 days per year. There is one extra earth rotation, not an axial rotation but this so called offset or orbital rotation to make up a total of 366 and 1/4 earth rotations yearly. This orbital rotation is responsible to keep earth time in sink and other seasonal factors. For now this is all you need to know. There are many other interesting facts which changes the perspectives of thing in orbital motion. I have solved the mystery of the synchronous rotation of our moon. It's simple as the merry-go round and yet people have a blind eye not to see the obvious. Adone 2015 (2K1AD)
*+Fraser Cain*
Your video has two glaring errors:
*#1* - at 40 seconds into your video you claim the moon takes *27.5* days to "travel around Earth," which is WRONG!
Our moon takes *27.3* days to make a sidereal rotation (in relation to a fixed point on the celestial sphere), but it takes our moon *29.5* days to complete an actual orbit around Earth, as measured from New Moon to New Moon.
*#2* - at 1.04 into your video you claim that maximum longitudinal librations occur at apogee and perigee when our moon's polar axial rotation is (supposedly) most out of sync with our moon's varying orbital speed.
HOWEVER, maximum longitudinal librations actually occur MIDWAY BETWEEN apogee and perigee!
Maximum longitudinal librations are caused for the exact same reason that maximum latitudinal librations occur, which is the constantly changing (geometric) viewing angle of our moon due to its elliptical orbit, as shown here:
i.imgur.com/T6SgHYb.png
Maximum latitudinal librations are instead caused by the inclination of our moon's orbital plane to Earth's surface, but both librations are due to our constantly changing viewing angles of our moon.
In short, since our moon has zero polar axial rotations left (i.e., fully despun), our moon's orbital velocity has NOTHING to with maximum longitudinal librations!
Stand off-center in the infield of any track, such as UCLA's Drake Stadium:
i.imgur.com/xnpqjxz.png
Standing in the 'Occupied Focus' position, as runners approach the far turn you'll then see more of their backs as they are 90º perpendicular to the 'Unoccupied Focus' position, and then you'll see more of their front-side after they round the far turn, but when at the perigee and apogee positions, there will be no visible librations.
The runners could walk or run, but that won't change your viewing angle of the runners as you stand in the 'Occupied Focus' position in the infield.
The Drake Stadium example is greatly exaggerated to make the point, so this diagram is closer to reality:
i.imgur.com/apGlYI6.gif
Ken Dine And Einstein's field equations call for the moon to be an orbiting rotating mass...
And we know the moon is an orbiting rotating mass because it doesn't fall to earth...
@The Dynamic Athletic
Thank you for comparing me to Einstein. Not true, but kinda flattering.
:)
However, this part isn't true:
"And we know the moon is an orbiting rotating mass because it doesn't fall to earth..."
An orbiting body's polar axial rotation has nothing to do with orbital stability, which is usually fairly stable, except in a few situations.
For example, Venus *REVOLVES* (orbits) in the usual CCW direction, but Venus also *ROTATES* in the opposite CW direction, which may have slowly sucked any CCW orbiting moon Venus may once have had down to Venus' surface.
Venus' relatively young surface, which is pockmarked with many craters of similar age, suggests that Venus did once have a moon that broke apart when it eventually started orbiting too closely to that planet (got within the Roche limit):
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roche_limit
Just so we are clear though... The publication that is quoted from is lying?
Ken Dine
Hey I just noticed you didn't say anything relevant...
@@zoltancsikos5604 I was joking with the Einstein comment, and since you seem incapable of discussing this matter intelligently, no big loss.
Not sure what you mean by "Muslim Japan", but my answer at Quora better explains what I was trying to convey here:
www.quora.com/Could-Venus-have-developed-as-a-habitable-planet-if-it-had-a-moon/answer/Ken-Dine
Does the moon takes a month to rotate around the earth? In counter clockwise? Thats why we are seeing different phases of the moon in a month?
No, we see the phases because of the different angles of sunlight. We always see the exact same side of the Moon.
The Moon is in an eliptical orbit with Earth called apogee and perigee. The Moon itself is in a tidal lock with earth but it's performing a coin spin towards earth.
So when you spin a coin and the coin is about to land it will spin on one side before stopping. This is exactly what our Moon is doing with earth it's a sort of rocking tilting motion towards earth that never stops. You can see the result of that by viewing the Sea of Tranquility crater, it sits at the 1 o'clock position and it will slowing turn toward the 4 o'clock position, rocking and tilting towards earth, the motion is called libration.
So it doesn't actually spin on it's axis but it is spinning in this coin spin, if that makes sense.
Hi Fraser, can i upload this video with spanish subs in my channel, obviously, with the link to this the original video. There´s a Flat Earth madness running around and i like that spanish speakers, can understand this concepts, thanks.
It seems for me that the moon only turns half way like it wobbles not fully rotate. If it is tidally locked then it can't turn . If it can't turn how can it complete one full rotation. Please clear my doubt. I've seen lot of animations . But couldn't comperhend .
So, the moon is in a synchronous rotation with the earth and it is impossible that alien bases exist on it's surface?
What speed does moon rotate on its axis?
Thanks!
Луна не вращается вокруг своей оси!
this hurts my brain... back to failarmy for me!
+Justin McNeil Watch a bunch of people smashing their balls to cleanse the mental palette.
Justin McNeil earth is flat
@@hishammansari and it stands on 4 oxen standing on a humongous turtle
@@g4mo No more Golden Axe for you
@@g4mo After that it's turtles all the way down.
How in the hell can you say that the earths gravity pulled unevenly on the moon, being the reason why we can only observe one surface? How is that possible? Where is the proof?
+Omar Brown LOL well gravity works like this you drop an apple and it hits the ground - so that makes the moon float around us but some reason it never hits the ground that is how
Really?
LOL??? Well the one seems pretty fucking cocky for someone who doesn't know the answer. I'm sure cosmology professors accept "for some reason" as an appropriate answer on exams. Get rid of the LOL's, smartass, and save it for when something is actually funny.
Omar Brown Exactly! And I don't accept that it rotates on an axis either. I wouldn't argue against what he said about it wobbling 8 degrees but I don't understand how it could rotate when we only see one side. That explanation didn't make any sense.
ALSO.....
the one needs to read more closely before LOLing. Omar Brown didn't ask, "what is gravity?"
Does the moon have an equator that is warmer than the poles like Earth?
If you're on the Moon's equator, you'll get more sunlight than if you're on the poles, but there's no atmosphere to trap radiation on the Moon.
I've a question but I'll ask Catfish Briggs!!!.
Hi the moon does not rotate on its axe the fact that it looks all time to the earth with one side confirms that fact. If the moon rotated at the half turn around earth wee saw its back, but that doesnt happen. Imagine holding a ball and turning around your axe with it youl see that the ball does not rotate in your hands - the moon in real does like it.
Great video but still confused. If the moon's rotation matches it's orbit does that mean that the dark side of the moon is say visible in the eastern hemisphere and the side we see in the western hemisphere (ie the man in the moon) is considered their dark side? Still confused about the whole moon rotates thing.
Imagine you're holding a rope with a ball at the end. As you spin it in a circle around you, you're always seeing the same side of the ball. But an outside observer can see every side of it. From their perspective, it's spinning.
No. The moon is too far away for two different people on Earth to see two entirely different sides of the moon. There is a very slight difference, but not enough to notice on a casual glance. The "dark side" is basically the same for everyone on Earth. Also important that "far side" is a better describer than "dark side". It's not actually dark. The far side of the moon receives the same amount of sunlight as the side facing us. We just never see that side.
Thank you so much for this 💚💙💙💙💚💚
Wait a second. Does the moon rotate around itself like the Earth or not? And is there a Dark Side in the Moon that was not discovered yet? Is there any evidence that the moon was cracked into half? And hypothetically if that happen what would happen to Earth. thanks
The very nature of your questions leads us to the conclusion that you have a mental disability Medo. I wish you well in your treatment.
First when i red about the moon rotation around its axe i did not think and proove it by my brain i just took the information from astronomy site... and thought then that the moon is spinning, but then some months later i sat in my room at window, the moon was outside and all over sudden my mind turned to thoughts about it i started to analize how the moon moves around earth and concluded finaly - it is not rotating around own axe - only in this case moon will look to earth one side all time in reality
The moon does indeed rotate on its own axis. You need to do some more thinking.
What you first have to do is distinguish between what is seen 'from our perspective on earth' and what is actually happening to the moon as it orbits the earth.
Hypothetically, imagine that the moon is by itself in the solar system, and not part of the 'earth/moon' system. Currently, the moon has phases, which obviously show that different parts of the moon are being illuminated at various times over a 27 day period. This wouldn't be possible if the moon didn't actually rotate on its own axis, would it? The period of rotation is very slow (27 days) which is why it takes the moon 27 days to go from 1 new moon to the next, with a quarter moon, half moon, full moon, etc in between.
Indeed, from our perspective on earth, the moon does not 'appear' to spin, but when taken by itself (a solitary body) it does spin, once on its axis every 27 days.
The moon doesn't spin and has nothing to do with tides. Go outside and see for yourself.
so why does your moon have green on it ??
So do satellites and the ISS rotate too?
It depends on the satellite, but mostly they keep the same orientation to the Earth, so they're like the Moon. Others like Hubble turn in all kinds of directions.
thats a big question the lamen answer is that it depends on the craft
It's a mystery why the far side of the Moon is so different from the near side. It's covered in craters while the near side has the maria.
Could that be a pole or imaginary point like axis of moon which might look same from earths position
So, it means that doesn't exist the "dark side of the moon", does it?
You lost me..."at some point in our distant past the moon did rotate"...of which recorded distant past are your referring to or is this just a theory you're referring to. Can I see the flag we put on the moon with a telescope ?
I know he said it, but I still don't get it. If it's spinning why don't we ever see more than one face? Wouldn't that mean that it would have to be spinning perpendicular to the earth's rotation? Also, it's a lot smaller than the earth. It should be rotating faster than we do. Everything in the universe spins so I don't get it.
Some clarifications, the common barycenter of the earth and the moon resides nearly at the surface of the earth. This mean the moon is not orbiting about the center of the volume of the earth but offset. Neither is the moon strictly orbiting the earth. The moon is 1/6th the mass of earth so BOTH are orbiting each other and have a 2000 mile libration with respect to the sun's center of mass position. This oscillation combined with the eccentric orbit of the moon could not of created a synchronous lock because the earth-moon barycenter is not fixed neither in distance nor in lunar angular velocity (relative to the earth). The sun's gravitational pull although not close enough to pull the moon out of orbit, is enough to compress the moons path on the sun/moon Apogee and stretch the path on the sun/moon Perigee. In addition a new moon is NOT caused by the moon being between the sun and the earth!
What causes a new moon then?
ok. I get that it rotates. but then how fast would it appear to be rotating if it wasn't rotating? ..or how would you know if it wasn't?
You've answered many of my questions. However I'm still a little unsure.
So basically the moon rotates but slowly and because of it's elliptical orbit it matches that of Earth (Almost) okay.
So in turn the moon has gravity because of this slight spin.
My unanswered question is... How does it stay suspended in it's elliptical orbit, isn't the Earths gravity strong enough to pull it out or is there something going on with centrifugal force? If so is this because of Earths and the Moons gravity combined or just the Earths. I'm just confused as to how it stays suspended. Thanks Fraser for the great video and to anyone who can give me an understandable explanation to my question.
Okay I realised Gravity is warped space time and not due to Earth spin. Which means the moon stays in orbit due to a warped space time, like a dip around the Earth which it follows. The Earth spins due to inertia so I know now. Thanks Josh ;)
@@JackGreen1905 Why would you think that an object only has gravity because it spins? An object has gravity because it has mass.
Interesting
How can it rotate on its axis. Say you are eg. "earth" and some string is eg."gravity" hold one end and stick the other to a ball and start turning, you will always see the same side of the ball as it cannot rotate on it,s axis as the string keeps hold of it. ? The moon stays in the same and can rotate on the earths axis but not its own axis.
Sure, but from an outside observer, you'd see every side of the Moon during its complete orbit. That's rotation. It's just that the rotation rate is exactly the same as its orbital period.
@@frasercain If by outsider you mean looking it from beyond the moon looking back at the moon and the earth,Of cause you will see both sides of the moon it is going round the earths axis. It does a rotation of the earth yes, But as i said it is not rotating on it,s own axis
Our moon is aweome, I say it rocks and is in a determined rotation guided by its orbit around us. The mud volcanos should be a clue to its past and the desiccation we see now.
It looks like the Moon rotates with respect to sun light not a physical rotation like Earth does.
Thank you. I did a little experiment using two pens representing Moon and Earth and I got it. Yes actually the Moon rotates on its axis but we can't visually see it because its rotational speed is as the same as its orbital speed. It's very hard to see it but once I throw out the Earth's movement, I can it it rotating slowly and clearly at different positions on the orbital path.
+Fraser Cain You don't actually think the "moon does rotate, but does so precisely with the earths rotation so it always appears to us as the same" you would be able to see the dark side craters creeping in against the terminator line if this were true, your own , (actually nasa's) animation shows us the moon waning and we see the "wobble" or liberation take place, yet no rotation, Or we would see a specific crater "Track" with the terminator line. No?
Who told you the earth rotates?
Unless I missed it........
If the earth & moon is rotating as you say, why is that I see the moon during night and day.
+OKIBOY SHOCKOO-DOWN The Moon slowly orbits around the Earth, so you're going to see it in every point in its orbit.
so like the moon does not rotate how the earth does or it appears to not rotate at all or atleast spinning like the earth ? - and with gravity and all that how does the sphere or moon wobble left to right like it does like spinning one way then spinning back the other way if the moons axis points directly at the earth or tidle locked how does gravity do that - and if gravity is 85 % of earths or whatever it is how does the moon yeild enough gravity to pull on the earth ? if its gravity is so small ?
+the one Exactly, it's as if it's being held in it's orbit. Which is confusing to me because of the mass of our Earths gravity. I can comprehend simply, how it works. I hope someone can answer why..
***** what i have read in science is the distance of the moon and earth are so far from each other they never get closer or further from each other as they are balanced - but science says the moon use to be very close to the earth millions of years ago - and science also says every 6 months or so orbiting the sun we get closer or further away one reason why seasons happen as we spin around the sun - but then the moon and earth does not constantly get further or closer - confuses the hell out of me - i read both scenario's - science has alot of contradictions for sure and it is starting to piss me off LOL
+the one I know, it boggles me. Either I'm just not grasping things because I'm not smart enough or there are many plot holes. As you say there are so many things to consider. I use to do all the sciences at A level, but that was a few years ago. Now I just do little bits of research when I get intrigued like today. I looked at the Moon and wondered. Now I wish I never. I am completely baffled and have no idea how I use to do A levels. Makes me really proud of the people on Earth who are dedicated to solving some of the biggest mysteries.
***** yeah - from what i read and try to understand i'm starting to realize WE as humans have not found out anything substantial but giving society a ton of theories they speculate about - the moon rotates in a circle on its axis right we spin too so that we don't see it spin cuzz tilde locked - K but the moon wobbles left then back to the right ? i wonder if any other moons do this wobble - i think saturn has a moon that is tilde locked as well - ill have to look into that moon - see what i dig up - if that one does the same weird wobble then i guess its safe to say its scientific theory of two moons doing the same thing
Yeah, strange and mind bending. Think a visit around the internet or local university is on the card to find an answer...
I'm getting bored always seeing the same side of the moon. Can powerful rockets be located on the surface of the moon to give it a spin? Then we can all see the other side as it rotates.
So how do you tell the difference between synchronized rotation and no rotation? I guess they would look the same.
If you're always seeing the same side of a planet or moon, then you're tidally locked.
@@frasercain I always see the same side of the moon. So I'm tidally locked?
For almost all intents and purposes, the stars hundreds of light years away can be considered fixed points in space because they just don't move enough on most time scales - particularly. If you imagine what it would look like standing on the surface of any celestial body and what those stars would do, you can easily figure out if it is rotating or not.
On Earth, the stars rise and set about every 24 hours. The Earth must be rotating. If you imagine what it would be like standing on the moon, the stars would rise and set every 27.3 days or so. The moon must be rotating for this to happen. It just so happens that it takes this same amount of time to orbit Earth. Most moons in the solar system (and presumable in the universe) are tidally locked with the planet they orbit for the same reason our moon is locked with Earth. Given enough time, tidal forces between the bodies will slow the rate of rotation of the moons down. However, once the period of rotation slows to match the period of orbit, tidal forces stop slowing it down. That is the end state of this mechanism; to become tidally locked. It's not stopping the rotation completely; just to the point that it is synced with the orbital period.
No rotation (relative to the sun) would mean we saw the opposite side of the moon every 14 days.
We do not see the opposite side at all because the rotation and revolution take the same time.
If you're dancing with a partner and you both spin, do you say they're not spinning because you don't see the back of their head? The disco lights and the other dancers, however, keep (relatively) going around both of you, so you can observe the spin.
@@VoltisArt OK. I love your dancing example, which gives a much-needed perspective to a subject that somehow is the source of much confusion.
Should not the moon travel fastest when closer to the earth and slower when farther away?
It does, yes.
@@frasercain
What causes the moon to turn like a wheel during the night. Like the Journey song The Wheel In The Sky keeps on turning.
Thanks for the reply.
Sure, but isn't the Moon just following a straight line through space which is actually curved by the Earth's gravitation? If the Earth were to disappear instantaneously would the Moon continue in a straight line without rotating?
I disagree. But I am open to be convinced otherwise. If a bullet which had differently painted left and right halves length ways from front to back were fired from another planet at Earth, but ended up getting captured in Earth's gravitational field and orbiting the Earth. It would NOT spin, but have one side facing us.
I don't think there are any straight lines. The moon is spinning and also rotating around Earth which is spinning and rotating around the sun, which is rotating around the galaxy which is moving through the Universe....
And what if we had the other face instead the one we see today....?....
Forget the moon.
Look at olympics hammer throwing.
Do you consider the hammer's head rotating on its own axis ?
Do you call that "synchronous rotation" ?
What you first have to do is distinguish between what is seen 'from our perspective on earth' and what is actually happening to the moon as it orbits the earth.
Hypothetically, imagine that the moon is by itself in the solar system, and not part of the 'earth/moon' system. Currently, the moon has phases, which obviously show that different parts of the moon are being illuminated at various times over a 27 day period. This wouldn't be possible if the moon didn't actually rotate on its own axis, would it? The period of rotation is very slow (27 days) which is why it takes the moon 27 days to go from 1 new moon to the next, with a quarter moon, half moon, full moon, etc in between.
Indeed, from our perspective on earth, the moon does not 'appear' to spin, but when taken by itself (a solitary body) it does spin, once on its axis every 27 days.
@@sailorman8668 You have'nt answered my question, so i'm gonna repeat it:
Do you consider the hammer's head rotating on its own axis ?
(You can have different answers for the different frames of reference if you want, from the thrower's or from the crowd's viewpoint)
Thanks
And by the way, Moon phases have absolutely nothing to do with the Moon spinning (or not) on it's own axis.
They are the result of the Moon's rotation around the Earth, it's position on its orbit determining how its lit by the sun.
With regards to the moon's phases, let's hypothetically remove the earth from the equation. For the moon to have 'phases' then it would obviously have to 'rotate' on its axis. There, that wasn't too hard to understand, was it?
@@sailorman8668 Looks like you fear the consequences of answering one very simple question.
Do you consider the hammer's head rotating on its own axis ?
If you cannot answer that, don't bother answering at all.
And about the Moon phases, you still got it wrong.
You are mixing "spin" with "rotation".
In your example without the Earth you will need the Moon to rotate around an axis that is not in the Moon's center to get phases.
If the Moon does not rotate, you don't have phases, no matter if it spins or not
Is it that hard to understand ?
I think the moon was brought here and placed here. :) and i also think there are bases on the darkside of the moon. :) i like your video thank you! :D
And the moon is hollow :)
Indeed it is
Awesome job Mr. Cain in explaining the rotation of the Moon.
so how is there gravity on the moon?
The Moon's mass creates the gravity.
i see. thanks :)
even you create a small gravitational force... no not a fat joke, anything with mass creates gravity
I do not think anyone knows if there is gravity on the moon yet. . My guess is that there is no spin and there for there is no gravity.
@@rikwiz1 If there was no gravity on the moon, why are rocks and lunar soil still sitting on the surface and not drifting into space? Are you trying to sound stupid on purpose?
next they are going to say we have been to the moon...
Never gonna happen, Hobbs.
Right?? Lol
Thanks, helped a lot.
Glad to help!
Why is the crescent side of the moon rotating throughout the day? At approximately 4:30 PM, the crescent was up or cover the upper half. Now, at 9:04 PM, the crescent is on the right half or right side. At 4:00 AM, the crescent will be down or cover the bottom half. Why is this? Seriously! I thought the crescent is supposed to stay the same each day! I live in the Southeast US.
That's because the Earth is rotating. Your perspective is changing. The trick is that the illuminated side of the Moon always points to the Sun from your perspective.
Fraser Cain Ah! I though that was possibly the reason but I've never noticed it before. Thanks for the response.
Then, at some point of time at some place of the earth, the far side of the moon should be visible, right ? But nobody has seen it!
WHAT?......there is no proof the moon actually rotated......do you have photographs....video etc?.....WOW........WOW
Yes, it rotates around the Earth.
The Dark Side of the Moon that is pelted with craters when it is pointed to space shows the location they came from Maybe
Exactly matches? What does exactly means? like 100% ? Or 99.999999999. Cause if it isn't a 100% we should be able to notice some slow and gradual rotation of it in matter of thousands of years - no? How can it be locked like that? What other celestial object exhibits these same characteristics? What can "lock" a moon like this? Can we see a video of a full moon rotation from the north pole as claimed in this video? Also, if many moons are tidally locked to their planets, why planets are not locked to the Sun? Not every moon is locked but can there be a planet that is locked to it's Star?
Thank you :)
That's very interesting info :) Thanks for the reply!
what reply?@@Pupixario
....sooo the moon's rotation matches the earths rotation? I still don't see the moon making a 360 deg turn. I have a hard time buying into what only one outlet (NASA) tells you. I need more sources to collect more info, not more scientists who get their data from NASA.
Roscosmos? ESA?
Never believe what nasa says, they love holding back information.
How about the entire scientific community.
"I have a hard time buying into what only one outlet (NASA) tells you."
I mean, I appreciate your demand for finding multiple, balanced sources... But this is something we've known for hundreds of years. If you don't trust NASA to tell you whether the moon rotates or not WHEN THEY LITERALLY SEND HUMAN BEINGS THERE AND BACK SAFELY, then you shouldn't trust a butcher to tell me what a t-bone looks like either.
you are aware there's several thousands astronomist across the world?
no you don't cus you are a moron
how we as a society have failed so miserably that knowledge that people had already more than 2000 years ago is lost on some internet idiots?
this doesn't really make sense
what tidal lock is, and why it makes a planet sync up to rotate just so as to never see the other side of the moon.
its not intuitive or immediately obvious.
+Des Troya at all.
@John Thor that's how I feel whenever I'm in an algebra class, we need people like you to speak up in classes all around the world.
then boy will you cry upon learning how quantum physics work
@@misanthropiclusion quantum physics is a theory. Its just conjecture. It's simply an attempt at explaining things we have no true understanding of. Just like string theory it sucks up money that should be used for better things.
That's exactly right. It all depends on how you look at it. From our position, it seems stuck in the sky, but it's actually turning.
Fraser in Lumberjack duds!
I think the Drake Equation is a great way to look at it. We can start to chase down some of those variables and get a better sense of the chances. We're already figuring out what percentage of stars have planets (probably 100%).
The SETI program is super useful. It's the most important question we can possibly ask: are we alone. It should be worth spending a few million dollars on.
The only thing that makes sense to me to explain why the same side of the moon is seen would be if the earth is spinning, and in fact orbiting the moon at the same speed the moon is turning.
This doesn't explain why the face looks the same. Clearly the moon rotates/orbits around the earth like a satellite. The question is does it spin? And on what axis relative to earth? I havent seen any proof thus far.
+Kailen Nelson it cant spin or it would not wobble left to right or spin quarter way then some how defy gravity and spin quarter way back opposite direction like unless its an off set object with a huge chunk taken out the back so its like a counter weight to make it wobble back n fourth
@@theone-ou1je I'm thinking the offset is the fluctuation of earths gravity affecting the moon. (?)
Moons orbit doesnt match any gravitational equation based on mass etc. the only two explanations i have seen that work are a hollow moon /massless moon or a hologram/ projection etc. obits only work in 2d anyway no matter what two objects you use. The minute you go 3 d heliocentricity falls flat on its face
The minute you go 3 d flat earth, everybody falls flat on their face in fits of laughter, lol.
I don't get it. we need a demo video showing how the moon can rotate whilst the earth is rotating, visually explaining why we literally never see the dark side of the moon.
This video literally does exactly that.
Then why does NASA say both the sun and moon rise from the east?
The Moon is orbiting around the Earth. You can see this for yourself.
I agree. But is it physically possible to rise from the east and set in the west going counterclockwise?
@@ryannelson2984 Depends where you are looking from. From the perspective of a person standing on the north star (polaris) the earth rotates counter clockwise. Don't forget that north south east west up down are human constructs based on what we observe from where we are. If the ancient cartographers were born in Australia then the globe map would be drawn with Australia on top rather than the reverse.
This does not make sense. The earth either does or does not see the other side of the moon if we do not see the other side then it does not spin on an axis but merely spins around the earth. The graphic representation makes it look like we see the dark side of the moon when it goes dark but that is not the case.
We don't see the other side because it's tidally locked to Earth. If you put a ball on a string and spin around, you'll only see one side of the ball. Is it spinning?
One Moon day (give or take) = 28 Earth days, i.e, it takes 28 days to spin/rotate once on its axis
Why there is this rule in moon and not other things like earth (when one moon day = 29 earth days that mean the moon need to rotate on its axis in 29 days ) and earth need 23h 56min to rotate on its axis even when the earth need 366 days to complete an one revolve on the sun
Can you explain to me why
Is it like that made a rule for the moon to get to see always one side of the moon
@@hamzamoussaid4347 It's called Tidal Lock and it's the norm throughout the Universe.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking
something is wrong earth comes in front of moon even then moon was white when it comes front of sun it was still white i.e. earth side, either moon not rotate or moon doesn't reflect light back to earth
Lol this video reminds me of a used car salesman!!
You can watch the video in HD, and you should be able to see how the Moon goes around. But yeah, an even bigger animation would be nice.