Fun facts with Angus Burns: synchronous rotation
We would expect to see the other side of the moon because it is a rotating sphere, but this is not the case. Read more here:
Have you ever wondered why we only see one side of the moon when we look at it from Earth?
We would expect to see the other side of the moon because it is a rotating sphere, but this is not the case.
The reason for this is something known as ‘synchronous rotation’.
This works because the moon rotates at the same rate as the earth does (i.e. it completes one full rotation on its axis in the same time it takes to orbit the earth).
The moon orbits the Earth once every 27.3 days and rotates on its axis once every 27.3 days.
As a result, even though it is rotating, only one side is visible from the earth’s surface.
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