Why do we always see the same side of the moon?

Question

a. It's coincidence that the moons rotational period and revolutional period are the same
b. the moon lost its extra rotational energy due to tidal forces long ago
c. the moon was most-likely created from the earth (by asteroid impact) and this syncronized its orbit
d. the moon looks the same all the way around

Answer 1

The correct answer is (b).
It's a generic phenomenon, called tidal locking, which occurs every time two celestial bodies can exchange mechanical energy through tides.
Besides Moon-Earth, there are many other examples, such as Mercury-Sun (see following link).

Answer 2

The Moon is in synchronous rotation, meaning that it keeps nearly the same face turned away from Earth at all times. Early in the Moon's history, its rotation slowed and became locked in this configuration as a result of frictional effects associated with tidal deformations caused by the Earth.[3] Nevertheless, small variations resulting from the eccentricity of the lunar orbit termed librations allow up to about 59% of the lunar surface to be visible from Earth.[1]

The side of the Moon that faces Earth is called the near side, and the opposite side is called the far side. The far side should not be confused with the dark side, which is the hemisphere that is not being illuminated by the Sun at a given moment. The far side of the Moon was first photographed by the Soviet probe Luna 3 in 1959. One distinguishing feature of the far side is its almost complete lack of maria.

Answer 3

a),b) No its not, its a law in physics that two objects spinning around other, are loosing energy, in this case their angular momentum. So After both the moon and the earth have lost mutch of ther angular momentum, the moon stoped rotating, and the earth rotates with the speed it does now.

c) There is a theory claiming that, but there are other theories as well claiming moon to be some kind of mini planet earth catched on on its way throw your solarsystem.

d) Yes, i think it does.

Answer 4

The Moon's rotation period corresponds almost exactly
to its period of revolution around Earth, so that the
same half of the Moon is always facing us. Small
changes in the attitude of the Moon, known as
librations, allow us to see slightly more than half of
the Moon in the long run.
http://skytour.homestead.com/files/moonphase.html
http://sems.und.edu/~sems/FrameA/MoonPhases/MoonPhases.html
http://www.astro.virginia.edu/class/bastian/astr121/review_notes_1/node10.html
http://www.answers.com/topic/moon

What are librations of moon?
http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Smoon4.htm

Some say that there is only one side of the Moon?
http://www.school-for-champions.com/science/moon_motion.htm
http://www.fourmilab.ch/earthview/moon_ap_per.html

Many people have heard that the same side of the moon
always faces the earth, and because of this, many think
that the moon does not rotate. It does rotate, exactly
once for each orbit around the earth. Imagine looking
down on the Earth and Moon from above the Earth's north
pole. To illustrate this, place two coins on a
table-top, one for the earth and one for the moon.
Choose a reference point on the "moon" coin and place
it closest to the earth keeping head. Now move the
"moon" in a circle around the "earth" coin but keep
head pointing to the earth. You will see that to
accomplish this, you must rotate the coin exactly once
for every trip around the earth.
http://www.mmsd.org/planetarium/mooncal/moonfaq.htm

Why the lighted side of the Moon allways faces the Earth?
http://home.hiwaay.net/~krcool/Astro/moon/moonphase/

Is the outer crust is thinner on the near side of the
Moon which faces earth?
http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~nowack/geos105/lect8-dir/lecture8.htm

What about the other side of the moon?
It was the Russians who, in 1959, first took pictures
of the unseen back of the moon. These historic pictures
revealed that this hidden side differs significantly
from the side which faces Earth: 98% of the back
surface is highlands and there are only a handful of
small mare. Additionally, the back side of the moon
hosts the largest impact crater known to us in the
Solar System. Boasting a diameter of 700 miles, Mare
Orientalis is the remnant of an explosion whose force
was strong enough to have sent a shock wave around the
surface of the moon as far as the other side where it
left cracks in the thin crust. The propagation of the
shock wave can be seen most prominently in the
concentric rings which surround the crater basin
itself. The denotation "mare" for this remnant is
misleading, as the melted rock in the center of this
basin was not the result of a welling-up of liquid
mantle from a deep crack in the crust but was rather
contact melting of the surface rock from the tremendous
heat of the explosion. An unanswered question remains
about the moon abut why the crust on the far side seems
to be tough enough to withstand an impact which should
have destroyed the little moon, while the near side's
crust is so thin as to have let mantle material escape.
http://hea-www.harvard.edu/ECT/the_book/Chap6/Chapter6.html

Moon Illusion 1 - Some persons may judge that the
right side is more distant than the left.
http://www.lhup.edu/~dsimanek/3d/moonillu.htm

Moon Illusion 2 - Moon near the horizon looks "larger"
http://www.greenwych.ca/moonillu.htm
http://facstaff.uww.edu/mccreadd/intro9.htm

Is Moon constantly falling towards our Earth?
http://www.elkforest.com/astronomy.html

Then is the Moon moving away from the Earth?
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=124

Which continents see the Moon as orange?
http://www.strudel.org.uk/blog/astro/000305.shtml

Reported flashes of light on the dark side of the Moon?
http://www.daviddarling.info/encyclopedia/M/Moon.html

Are there any massive 'towers' on the moon?
http://www.marsanomalyresearch.com/evidence-reports/2004/067/moon-towers.htm

Which of the following could never happen?

(a) An observer seeing a full moon in the middle of
the day (local noon)
(b) An observer seeing a new moon in the middle of the
night (local midnight)
(c) Both of the above observations are impossible for
any observer to see.

Does an astronaut on moon see the same side of
earth all the time?

For an astronaut on moon, how long the Earth takes
to go through one complete cycle of phases?

(astro.washington.edu/labs/
clearinghouse/labs/
word_documents/moonphases
.html)

Answer 5

a)

Because the moon takes the same amount of time to rotate on its axis as it does to orbit the earth once, the same side of the moon is always facing the earth. In other words, when it has gone one-quarter of its orbit around the earth, it has rotated 90 degrees. When it's gone halfway around the earth, it has rotated 180 degrees, and when it gets back to where it started from, it's back to where it started from.

Answer 6

No. The earth rotates that's the reason of why time exists. do no longer you spot there are cases whilst the moon isn't seen (daytime). If somebody became on the moon, they might see the earth rotate and can desire to basically see a similar spot on earth as quickly as each and every 24 (earth) hours.

Answer 7

The best answer is A. The moon spins in time with its revolution around the earth. This causes the same face of the moon to face the earth for almost ever. Eventually it won't be synchronous, but we won't see it within our lifetimes.
That's my two cents for ya.

Answer 8

Great herds of naked moon maidens were enslaved and forced to run around the moon's equator in the direction it was originally spinning, and so much angular momentum was transferred from the moon into the girls that the moon stopped spinning. Then along came some Vikings in spaceships, swooping down to snatch up the moon maidens... uh, in order to get a boost for their flight and save on rocket fuel. This is what prevented the angular momentum from returning to the moon.

Answer 9

Hi,

Our moon is fairly unusual in that it does not rotate, as we do, but completes its orbit around us always presenting the same face towards the earth.

There are other examples of this feature in our solar system, but, as I say, it is rarer.

No-one 'knows', though many offer theories, as to why this should be. They know why most DO rotate, but not why the few do not.

I suspect you have already made your mind up to your own satisfaction, judging by the completeness of your question, but good question anyway.

Cheers,

BobSpain

Answer 10

because the moon does not rotate over is own