Saturday, December 13, 2008

Moon gazing on a windy night


Did you know that the same side of the moon alway faces toward the Earth. This is because it has a synchronous rotation. This means that the Moon is locked in phase with its orbit so that the same side is always facing toward the Earth.

A few degrees of the far side can be seen from time to time. This is because the Moon does not orbit the Earth in a completely circular orbit, making it appear to 'wobble'.



2 comments:

Tanya Gwen Minnick said...

These photos are AMAZING- I love the moon, I feel so connected to the whole universe when I gaze at the moon. I did not know about the same side facing earth, how neat.
Thanks for sharing

Rambling Woods said...

I would LOVE to be able to take moon photos like these..and I never thought about which side of the moon faces us..Now I know...