Why do we only see one side of the moon? surely it rotates because it has gravity?

Question

Always in pictures you see the side of the moon with the face on.

Why!?

Answer 1

The answers about gravity and tidal locking are correct.

Here are some pics for you.

http://www.wolaver.org/Space/moonfarside.jpg

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap981008.html

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap950914.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Moon_PIA00304.jpg

http://www.mentallandscape.com/C_CatalogMoon.htm

Answer 2

Because the moon is lopsided enough to cause it to be tidally locked towards the earth. The bulkier side of the moon always faces the earth because after billions of years of the moon going around the earth, the moons rotation has slowed enough to a point that the gravity from the earth keeps the bulkier side of the moon facing the earth.

Answer 3

There is no relationship at all between the rotation of a planet or moon and the phenomenon of gravity!

We do not have gravity because the earth rotates, and the same is true everywhere. Please get this straight. I will worry about you if you don't realize that rotation and gravity are not related. Okay?

The moon always "faces" the earth because it rotates and revolves at very close to the same period. No mystery about it.

Answer 4

The moon is rotating but at the same pace as its period. It makes one revolution around its own axis at the same time it takes for it to make one orbit around earth. So one side is always facing us. The moon is "tidally locked" to earth. Most moons , if not all, in the solarsystem orbit their parent planet like this.

-edit-
The planets all rotate and orbit the sun because of momentum. Momentum is because of mass. Mass is the cause of gravity. I don´t think you meant the moon has gravity because it rotates. So I don´t worry about that. I DO worry about people (obsessed with moons incidently) that think magnetism is the cause of gravity...

Answer 5

The moon rotated faster in it's early days. The tidal stresses on the moon caused by the earth's gravity squeezing it gradually caused it's rotation to slow down until it stopped altogether in relation to the earth. The moon is also slowing the earth's rotation down, but the earth is so much bigger that it's not affected as much.

Answer 6

the suited tournament between rotation and translation is termed (between different issues) spin-lock. this is led to by ability of the tidal results of Earth upon the Moon. The Moon is likewise attempting to decelerate Earth's rotation although the Moon's tidal result's weaker and the Earth has a larger mass, an excellent thanks to take billions of years. --- bypass to a huge room (like a health club). Label the 4 walls (some thing like N, E, S and W). placed the instructor on the centre (as Earth). You (Moon) are in orbit, so that you're going to stroll a circle around the instructor. First decision: the Moon does no longer rotate. hence, it is going to continuously face a similar way. %. a wall (enable's say N) and save you face pointing at that wall. As you walk the circle around the instructor, save your nostril pointed to that wall. be careful for the element the position you should walk backwards. After polishing off the circle, ask the instructor: did you spot all round my head? answer should be definite. this does no longer correspond to what we note about the Moon, hence the end is that "non-rotation" does no longer stick with to the Moon. 2d decision: commence from a position due south of the instructor. dealing with the instructor, you're dealing with the N wall. As you walk around the circle, call out the "call" of the wall that you're dealing with. on the start: "i'm dealing with the North wall" i'm dealing with the NW nook. i'm dealing with the W wall i'm dealing with the SW nook etc. on the end, the instructor could verify that in basic terms your face change into seen from "Earth"; although, you comprehend that you confronted each and each of the instructions, having carried out one finished turn round your rotation axis. QED (quod erat demonstrandum) or ???? ???? ?????? (hoper edei deixai) as Euclid himself might want to have suggested.

Answer 7

Yes, the moon does rotate on its axis, but it performs one rotation for every revolution around the Earth. In other words, it takes just as long to rotate once on its axis as it takes to go around our planet once. This is called "tidal locking", which results in the same side of the Moon always facing Earth. Our Moon is not the only body in the solar system to experience this phenomenon. Pluto and its moon Charon are also tidally locked, as are Mars' two small moons, and several of the moons of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.

Answer 8

11 answers so far given. I too worry about someone who thinks gravity and rotation are linked. Only thing missing in answers given is that the moons orbit is not a perfect circle, and we can see 59 percent, rather than 50 percent of its surface.
Source - Sir Patrick Moore - British TV Prog on Astronomy.

Answer 9

Yes it does rotate, as do all planets and moons. The reason we only see one side or face is because its rotation period (time to turn once on its own axis) equals its orbital period(time to orbit the earth once)

Answer 10

Gravity and rotation have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.