Pure physics can explain this one.
Q: Why does the moon always present the same face to us? I find it impossible to believe that this could happen by chance.For starters, the moon is not stuck in place with one side facing us. Our lunar companion rotates while it orbits Earth. 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. As a result, the same lunar hemisphere always faces Earth.
How’d this come to be? In a word: gravity. The moon’s gravity slightly warps our planet’s shape and gives us tides. Likewise, Earth tugs at the moon, creating a rocky, high-tide “bulge” facing us. That bulge ended up working like a brake, slowing the moon’s spin down to the current rate, so the lunar high tide permanently faces us.
When that happened, about 4 billion years ago, the moon became “tidally locked,” and it has presented us the same visage ever since.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Why Marvel Is Rebooting the Punisher (And Why It Won't Work)Recently Marvel announced a new Punisher series that would see Frank Castle with a new logo and mission. Here's why the comics publisher is rebooting the vigilante and why it might not work.
Read more »
Gordon Monson: From across the pond, Utah’s Big Bam Olaseni is now playing his ‘pure game’Utah’s Bam Olaseni — measuring 6-foot-8, 330 pounds — is a human collision, a pileup of flesh and bone and talent and diversity, some of it completely unexpected, a lot of it pretty cool.
Read more »
Here’s Why California Is Losing Population for the First TimeFewer people are arriving, the people who are there are having fewer kids, and more people are dying. Add it up, and it’s big trouble for the biggest state.
Read more »
Why 2021 was the quickest year ever on recordResearchers who used highly accurate atomic clocks say the Earth's rotation sped up in 2021, leading to a shorter year.
Read more »
Why are so many flights being canceled?The forces that have scrambled thousands of flights since Christmas Eve could ease in January, but that’s cold comfort to the millions of flyers with New...
Read more »