Friday, May 9, 2014

This Blog's History: Does the Moon Rotate?

With the recent lunar eclipse (mid April), there's been a lot in the news regarding the Moon.  So for This Friday in This Blog's History, I bring back to you a misconception many people have regarding the Moon.

Does the Moon Rotate?

The same face of the Moon always faces the Earth as the Moon is tidally locked to the Moon.  This leads people to believe that the Moon doesn't rotate on its own axis.  But to have the same face facing the Earth, the Moon must rotate on its own axis.  It just does its rotation at exactly the same rate as the Moon's revolution about the Earth.  This keeps the same side of the moon always facing Earth.

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