2007-01-08 17:21:39 · 6 answers · asked by Craig R 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
we do only see one side, but yeah i found the info for myself.....
On the left we see a rather poor photo of the moon. We always see the same side of the moon. So, it would seem that the moon does not rotate (spin on its axis), right? A surprising number of people are very insistent that the moon does not rotate.
A person standing in one spot on the moon would see the earth in the same part of the sky (directly overhead, for the person in the diagram on the right), unmoving. But, he/she would see the sun appear to move around the sky in about 29 earth days. The person would correctly deduce that the moon has a solar day of about 29 earth days. This person would also see that the stars appear to move around the sky in about 27 earth days. Again, the person would correctly deduce that the moon spins on its axis once in about 27 earth days.
The moon definitely rotates. It just doesn't look like it, from where we stand.
The moon rotates at a constant rate.
2007-01-08 17:39:29 · update #1
It does. If it didn't you wouldn't see just one side of it. It rotates on it's axis at the same rate as the earth rotates on it's axis.
2007-01-08 17:31:47 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
it does rotate but in sync with its orbit. Think of the face of the moon (man in the moon) as it rotates around the earth it rotates into its orbit thereby having its face always facing the earth. Other wise the back of the moon would show. Have some walk around you holding a can of soda/beer. if they did not rotate the axis of the can you would see the label in front of you but when the can reaches your back you would see the back of the cans label. Don't get confused with the earth's rotation (24 hours) the moon takes roughly one month. The moon can be seen every 12 hrs. the phases of the moon is the earth & moons rotation as it lines up with sun light
2007-01-08 17:45:27 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It does rotate. It's rotation is synchronous to it's orbit around the earth, one rotation-one orbit, and that is why we only see one side of the moon from earth. If the moon did not rotate and it had the same face to the sun at all times we would see all the different sides of the moon as it rotated around the earth.
2007-01-08 17:37:02 · answer #3 · answered by RUDOLPH M 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The moon does rotate on its' axis. it rotates exactly once for every revolution around the Earth.
2007-01-08 17:32:40 · answer #4 · answered by googleplex 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
It does. The tilt on the moon is only about 1/2 degree or so. The moon spins slower (29.5 days from new moon to full and back again.) The moon does turn!
Peace
2007-01-08 17:44:33 · answer #5 · answered by Massageman 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer is
d: all of the above
2007-01-08 17:41:37 · answer #6 · answered by Tim C 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋