Moon showing only one face to us.?

Question

It is impossible for moon to rotate around it's own axis but still hide it's one face from us always. If we can see only one face always, then automatically it implies Moon doesn't rotate around it's vertical axis. It may rotate around it's horizontal axis and still show only one face but not around vertical axis.

Irrespective of how fast it rotates, irrespective of how much time it takes if it is truly rotating around it's vertical axis then it has to has to has to show it's other face.

i agree the same area of earth may always see the same face of earth but we are talking of whole earth; if whole earth cannot see other face of moon then it is not rotating around it's vertical axis.

Now think of 2 people standing in front of each other face to face. Let us assume both rotate around their vertical axis. Let us also assume person B rotates around person A. If person B really rotates around his own axis now tell me how is it possible that A never sees the back of B??? irrespective of the speed with which B rotates, irrespective of the time he takes to finish 1 rotation around A at some point the has to show his back to A.

it is impossible for moon to rotate around it's own vertical axis and still hide it's other face from earth irrespective of how it rotates as long as it is around it’s vertical axis.

it is impossible. I know people will come out with some explanations like ' moon's rotation is locked with …etc etc ' ‘ it takes same time for rotating around it's own axis as well as 1 rotation around earth bla bla’ but in my opinion;

In my opinion moon actually doesn’t rotate around it’s own vertical axis ( also around any axis ); perhaps the gravity of Earth has completely prevented Moon from ever rotating around it’s axis.

It also raises the interest possibility that not all planets or moons or celestial bodies in the universe do have to rotate around their own axis. If there are 2 movements; 1) moving around another celestial body 2) moving around it’s own axis; I feel the first type of movement is mandatory ( moving around another, mostly bigger celestial body like earth moving around Sun, moon moving around Earth etc ) and the second type movement ( moving around it’s own axis ) is not mandatory. Obviously I don’t think there could be an object in the universe which could just float in the sky possibly moving around it’s own axis but without moving around something else.

This is my opinion, I appreciate a feedback in this regard. In other words the above discussion is actually a question although it looks like a reply or response.

Thanks.

Answer 1

well, since the moon doesn't rotate or not based on opinion, I have to say that you're wrong. imagine this:
you put an object in the middle of a room. rotate around your vertical axis - that is, spin in a circle in place. you see all around the entire room, right? now face the object and walk in a circle around it so that you KEEP facing it. did you still see all around the room again? that means you rotated, just like before. if you did one circle like that, you will have completed one revolution revolution and one rotation - so you revolved and rotated at the same rate.
now walk a circle around the object, but always face the same direction in the room. that means you're not spinning with respect to your vertical axis, so there's no rotation. but in this case, every part of you faced the object - at one point it was to your left, behind you, and to your right.

so the moon rotating and revolving at the same speed does mean the earth only sees one face of it, like the object only saw the front of you. NOT rotating means we would see every face of the moon, like all sides of you faced the ball at some point.

Answer 2

The Moon DOES rotate on it's axis, once every 28 days. Here's how to show it. Get two people and have one of them stand still (they can be the Earth). Give the Moon person a ball to hold out in front of them at arm's length and have them walk around the Earth so that the same face of the ball is always facing the Earth. You'll notice that you have to turn the ball (or the Moon person) around once during this trip so that the same side is always facing the Earth person. That's how the Moon rotates. If you were watching this from above, the rotation would be immediately obvious.

Answer 3

First, there can only be one axis of rotation for any object at one time. The moon's axis of rotation is North-South. That's the imaginary line it spins around.

To explain the rotation, let's get back to your friend. Assume he is South of you. He starts out facing North. As he moves to your East, he faces West. As he moves to your North, he turns South. And as he moves to your West, he turns East, facing you the whole time. That is rotation, turning to face all different directions, and you never see the back of his head. (You yourself must rotate to observe him.) If he did NOT rotate, always facing North, you would see his left, back and right side as he circled you.

From the Moon's point of view, the Sun rises, sets and rises again in 29 1/2 Earth days, because that's how long it takes for the Moon to spin completely around. That is one lunar day. Yet from the Moon's point of view, the Earth never moves in the sky! It spins but it is always in the same place. That means the moon is synchronized with Earth. It isn't stationary. It has to rotate to keep the Earth in the same position in the sky. If it didn't rotate, the Earth would appear to rise every 29 1/2 Earth days and the Sun would take 365 Earth days between risings.

If there is any movement in the universe, every object is moving in relation to some other object. Depending on vector and mass, many objects get redirected or captured into orbit by other objects. (That's why there are solar systems and galaxies.) But not all. Objects between solar systems or galaxies aren't orbiting anything in particular.

Rotation is more common. There are an infinite number of speeds any object could be rotating at. Zero is only one of them. So the odds of something giving it a nudge into a rotation are pretty good, and that rotation will be on a single axis. The spin actually keeps its orbit stable, if it has one, the same way that spinning keeps a rifle bullet on trajectory.

Gravity between nearby objects generates tides. Tides are a type of rotational drag. Given enough time, the drag will slow the rotation to match the revolution. That's what happened to the Moon. There are no land tides on the Moon because it always presents the same face to Earth. Since Earth is bigger than the Moon, Earth's slowing will take longer, but it will happen. Millions of years hence, the Earths rotation will match the Moon's orbit. Then the Moon will stop moving in the sky and Earth days will be a former Earth month long.

Answer 4

Your argument fell down in the second sentence. The moon has to rotate about its axis because it is rotating around us and showing the same face all the time. It is in a synchronous rotation with it's orbit which is why it always shows the same face. Astronomers believe that early in the moon's history that tidal forces cause the moon to slow down and become synchronous. It isn't perfectly synchronous and 59% of the moon can be observed at some time.

Answer 5

Think of it like this. You're standing in the middle of a circular race car track. You can rotate 360 degrees around any one point in the middle of that track. Now you have cars going around you. Now, unless you can get to the outer side of the track, you're never going to see the other side of any one race car. In this illustration, you are the earth and the race car is the moon. One lap around the track for the car is one rotation and one orbit. That's how we can only see one face of the moon at a time.

Answer 6

It rotates like that because it is lopsided in mass. so the heavy side is toward the earth . This type of stabilization is called gravity gradient.

Answer 7

Because it revolves at the same rate it rotates.

Answer 8

Your argument is incorrect because it assumes the earth is the center of the universe. You know it isn't, right?

Answer 9

because moon is a alien spy device... they are hiding from and watching us from the dark side of the moon. It is the reason why NASA never returned to the moon.... google it! :D

Answer 10

You know too much. Stop it. The moon travels along always with one side facing us and one side we can't see.It's just how it is.