https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xpIxbsj...
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quantumclaustrophobe say: Actually, it does rotate - exactly once per orbit. (If it didn't, we'd be able to see the farside...). The moon is tidally locked with the Earth; it probably rotated at one time, but it's rotation slowed to the point that it matched it's orbital period.
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Metallic Anarchist say: http://www.futhead.com/17/players/20781/...
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Ricki say: The Moon does rotate on its axis.
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Jason say: 1) Because it is tidally locked by gravity.
2) It does. It rotates on its axis at the same rate that it revolves around the Earth. That is precisely why we only ever see the same side. If it did not turn on its axis as it orbited Earth we would see different sides.
You can prove that to yourself. Take any round object and mark one face of it. Move that object around another object. The first one is the moon the second is Earth. Keep the marked face pointing towards the Earth as you go around it. You can't keep it pointed at Earth without turning it on its axis. If it doesn't turn, the face pointed towards Earth changes. To keep it pointed at Earth you have to turn it at the same rate that you move around Earth.
You can do the same thing with your body. Point your face toward an object. Walk around it and keep facing it. You can't keep facing it without turning.
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CarolOklaNola say: The Moon DOES rotate on its axis like Earth Does, but it rotates ONE TIME for every orbit it makes around Earth because The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth. This WHY we only see One side of the Moon, but over time we can see 59% of the surface area of the
http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/about-u...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Libration
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallacti...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6jUpX7J7ySo
It makes a LOT of sense, because that is WHY we see only one side of the moon plus a little more over time.
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Davros say: What you read is correct. The moon does rotate once on it's axis for every orbit of the Earth.
It's a process called tidal locking, and is pretty much normal for all moons dominated by the gravity of their parent bodies. It can also happen to planets and stars given the right circumstances.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_lock...
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