Why Do We Only See One Side Of The Moon From Earth
Camila Farah
It s just that the amount of time it takes the moon to complete a revolution on its axis is the same it takes to circle our planet about 27 days.
This is why we always see the same side of the moon. The moon is directly illuminated by the sun and the cyclically. Hence tidal locking of moon is another reason why do we see only one side of moon always. For starters the moon is not stuck in place with one side facing us.
In the past the moon used to rotate much faster than it does now. Mostly only the satellite is tidally locked to the larger bodies with a circular orbit. First the moon s orbit around earth is elliptical not circular so its rotation is sometimes ahead and sometimes behind its orbital motion. For instance the same side of the moon always faces the earth although there is a minor variation since the moon s orbit is not perfectly circular.
And second the moon s rotation axis is not at right angles to its orbit around the earth so we can sometimes see over or under its poles. 1 the moon rotates at the same speed as the earth 2 you can see different sides of the moon from varying locations on earth 3 the moon rotates one time on its axis every time it orbits the earth 4 the moon rotates one time on its axis every time it orbits the sun 5 none of the above. Nope not by chance it s pure physics. The near side of the moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned towards earth as opposed to the opposite far side only one side of the moon is visible from earth because the moon rotates on its axis at the same rate that the moon orbits the earth a situation known as synchronous rotation or tidal locking.
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But over millions of years the effect of the earth s gravity has slowed down the moon s rotation until it became gravitationally locked to the earth. There are two main reasons for this.Source : pinterest.com