Jul 21, 2020 05:03 AM
(This post was last modified: Jul 21, 2020 05:31 AM by Yazata.)
The Moon obviously rotates in the sidereal frame, relative to the "fixed" stars. But it's tidally locked to the Earth, such that its rotation period equals its orbital period around the Earth, so that it always presents one side to the Earth with the other side invisible to Earthbound observers.
(Stop gnashing your teeth CC, with memories of Ken and the Great Moon Rotation Argument from years ago.)
Well, here's a video from NASA APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) showing the Moon rotating relative to a virtual observer so that all of it can be seen. The imagery is from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter lunar satellite.
I still remember when I was a boy and nobody had ever seen the far side of the Moon. We all fantasized that it had alien cities or all kinds of weird things. Actually it is kind of weird, very unlike the side of the Moon facing us. The side facing us has all kinds of dark "seas" (actually giant lava flows). The far side doesn't have any. I don't know what accounts for that asymmetry. As I recall, the Russians were the first ones to discover that.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200719.html
https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/sNUNB6CMnE8
(Stop gnashing your teeth CC, with memories of Ken and the Great Moon Rotation Argument from years ago.)
Well, here's a video from NASA APOD (Astronomy Picture of the Day) showing the Moon rotating relative to a virtual observer so that all of it can be seen. The imagery is from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter lunar satellite.
I still remember when I was a boy and nobody had ever seen the far side of the Moon. We all fantasized that it had alien cities or all kinds of weird things. Actually it is kind of weird, very unlike the side of the Moon facing us. The side facing us has all kinds of dark "seas" (actually giant lava flows). The far side doesn't have any. I don't know what accounts for that asymmetry. As I recall, the Russians were the first ones to discover that.
https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap200719.html