The earth is spinning faster, why?

And yes I am aware that the "dark side" of the moon DOES see the sun when it is on the opposite hemisphere. ie during our "day"

But from Earth you can not see the "dark side" of the moon.

BECAUSE THE MOON DOES NOT "SPIN" you IDIOT.

Dude, your own posts contradict what you are saying.

The moon does revolve. The period of its revolution is the same as the period of its orbit.

From your vantage point on the Earth, it only looks as if the moon does not spin. This is false, because this vantage point is also moving. From any fixed vantage point in the universe, the moon most certainly does rotate on its axis.

if i may (some pieces have bin cut and bolded)

Originally posted by robertfenix
synchronous rotation
said of a satellite if the period of its rotation about its axis is the same
as the period of its orbit around its primary. This implies that the
satellite always keeps the same hemisphere facing its primary (e.g. the
Moon)...

Moon Orbit is 27.32 days +/- .05%
Moon Rotation is 27.32 days +/- .05%

Moons Orbit and Rotation are the same due to synchronous rotation.

good thing the moon doesnt rotate!

Originally posted by HowardRoark
Dude, your own posts contradict what you are saying.

The moon does revolve. The period of its revolution is the same as the period of its orbit.

From your vantage point on the Earth, it only looks as if the moon does not spin. This is false, because this vantage point is also moving. From any fixed vantage point in the universe, the moon most certainly does rotate on its axis.

Err sorry we are rotating around the moon not the otherway around.

I'd sure like to give robertfenix an honorary moron award.

Its the whole calling someone an idiot who said the moon spins. After just posting information about the rate at which the moon spins thing that does it for me.

Pure genius!

Also drunk, even in that scenario the moon would still have to rotate to keep one face always facing the earth

O.K i am outta my league here i failed science class.

*bows out*

Originally posted by drunk
O.K i am outta my league here i failed science class.

*bows out*

nah! i still speak french, and i am currently failing french. again.

kano - love the awards!

OK, OK, OK, enough with the name calling.
Since I started it, I apologize to Robertfenix. I honestly though that you were trolling, but I see now that you are just confused.

Look at it this way, imagine that you are in a space ship. Your ship is outside the plane of the epileptic, about even with the Earth and moon. Let�s say, just for grins, that your space ship is a solar wind sail ship. Thus you have to keep your ship and the sail in the same relative position in relation to the sun. now it take a long time to travel by solar wind pressure so you have a couple of months in which you can look out your porthole and observe the motion of the moon around the Earth.

The first thing you notice is that the moon doesn�t orbit around the exact center of the Earth, In fact both the Earth and Moon revolve around a point known as the Barycenter.

The second thing that you notice is that the sunlit area of the moon changes as the moon travels around the Earth. Since the sun doesn�t orbit the moon, the moon must be rotating relative to the sun.

THE MOON DOES NOT "SPIN" you clueless inbreeds.

THE ROTATIONAL PERIOD IS THAT OF ITS ORBIT AROUND EARTH. IT HAS NOT ROTATION EXCEPT THAT OF ITS ORBIT.

THAT IS WAY THE HEMISPHERE IS LOCKED. BECAUSE IT DOES NOT "SPIN"

Take two balls, mark an "x" on one ball, call that one the moon. Now take the second ball (Earth) and rotate it on its axis, while the "x" on the (Moon) points to it. Now move the (moon) around the (Earth) while keeping the "x" pointed at the the (Earth).

Did the (Moon) "spin" on its axis ? If so then the "x" on the moon must have faced away from the (Earth).

Since it DOES NOT, then the (Moon) does not "Spin" on its axis.

The rotation is the orbit. That is the only motion that the moon has. Its Orbit.

Originally posted by robertfenix
THE MOON DOES NOT "SPIN" you clueless inbreeds.

a little story



[Edited on 17-2-2004 by HowardRoark]

[Edited on 17-2-2004 by HowardRoark]

Originally posted by robertfenix
THE MOON DOES NOT "SPIN" you clueless inbreeds.

THE ROTATIONAL PERIOD IS THAT OF ITS ORBIT AROUND EARTH. IT HAS NOT ROTATION EXCEPT THAT OF ITS ORBIT.

THAT IS WAY THE HEMISPHERE IS LOCKED. BECAUSE IT DOES NOT "SPIN"

Take two balls, mark an "x" on one ball, call that one the moon. Now take the second ball (Earth) and rotate it on its axis, while the "x" on the (Moon) points to it. Now move the (moon) around the (Earth) while keeping the "x" pointed at the the (Earth).

Did the (Moon) "spin" on its axis ? If so then the "x" on the moon must have faced away from the (Earth).

Since it DOES NOT, then the (Moon) does not "Spin" on its axis.

The rotation is the orbit. That is the only motion that the moon has. Its Orbit.

Q: Years ago at a science club meeting, I asked why the Moon didn't rotate and my question was dismissed with one word: "gravity".




A: The Moon, of course, rotates--at the same speed as it orbits the Earth. So, in the 27.32 days it takes the Moon to go around Earth, the Moon also spins about its axis one full revolution. That's why we always see the same face of the Moon.

Becarfully what you call people. You dont know who you are talking to most of the time. A simple google search answered the question.
www.wonderquest.com...



[Edited on 17-2-2004 by SpittinCobra]

Originally posted by robertfenix
THE MOON DOES NOT "SPIN" you clueless inbreeds.

THE ROTATIONAL PERIOD IS THAT OF ITS ORBIT AROUND EARTH. IT HAS NOT ROTATION EXCEPT THAT OF ITS ORBIT.

THAT IS WAY THE HEMISPHERE IS LOCKED. BECAUSE IT DOES NOT "SPIN"

Take two balls, mark an "x" on one ball, call that one the moon. Now take the second ball (Earth) and rotate it on its axis, while the "x" on the (Moon) points to it. Now move the (moon) around the (Earth) while keeping the "x" pointed at the the (Earth).

Did the (Moon) "spin" on its axis ? If so then the "x" on the moon must have faced away from the (Earth).

Since it DOES NOT, then the (Moon) does not "Spin" on its axis.

The rotation is the orbit. That is the only motion that the moon has. Its Orbit.

You are so close.

Ok, let�s try this.

Instead of two balls, sit at your kitchen table. In front of you is your cereal bowl, which will represent the Earth. To the side of your cereal bowl is your coffee cup, the moon. You get to be the sun.

Take your coffee cup and place it between you an the bowl. (a �new� moon). Point the handle of the cup toward you. Now move the cup in a circle around the bowl, but keep the handle of the cup always facing you. This would be the situation if the moon did not rotate. The only motion of the cup is the circular orbit around the bowl. In fact you can hold the cup by its handle and circle it around the bowl. Note that the same side of the cup is always facing you. The same side is always facing away from you. This is a true �dark side� of the moon scenario. This is the situation when �The rotation is the orbit. That is the only motion that the moon has. Its Orbit.� That is it. The only motion that the cup has is the circle that you are making.

Now think about it from the vantage point of Capt�n Crunch, there in your cereal bowl. As he watches it, the moon appears to spin because as it moves around him, each side of the cup faces him in turn. When the cup is between you and him, he sees the side opposite the handle. When it is on the side opposite from you, he sees the handle.

Now, again move the cup in a circle around the cereal bowl, but this time keep the handle of the cup pointing toward the bowl at all times. Notice that you can not do this while holding onto the handle at all times without doing some awkward contortions. In order for you to keep the handle of the cup facing the center of the cereal bowl, you have to turn the cup as it goes around the bowl. This is called rotation. The cup is spinning on its axis as it goes around the bowl. Now from Capt�n Crunch�s point of view, the cup no longer appears to be spinning because the same side is always pointed toward him.

This is the situation with the moon. You don�t thing it is spinning because the same side is always facing you. What you fail to realize is that your viewpoint is constantly changing also as the Earth rotates.

But you fail to realize the moons orbit period is longer then the earth's. Therefore if the moon is indeed "spinning" on its axis then the face you observe would gradually change because the Earths rotation on its axis is slower then the moons orbit.

This differential in orbit times would have a direct affect on the visual appearance of the "face"

Originally posted by robertfenix
But you fail to realize the moons orbit period is longer then the earth's. Therefore if the moon is indeed "spinning" on its axis then the face you observe would gradually change because the Earths rotation on its axis is slower then the moons orbit.

Can anyone make any sense of this?

robert, I strongly suggest you start reading and paying attention to the posts of others before making yourself appear any more ignorant than you already have.

Originally posted by Kano

Originally posted by robertfenix
But you fail to realize the moons orbit period is longer then the earth's. Therefore if the moon is indeed "spinning" on its axis then the face you observe would gradually change because the Earths rotation on its axis is slower then the moons orbit.

Can anyone make any sense of this?

robert, I strongly suggest you start reading and paying attention to the posts of others before making yourself appear any more ignorant than you already have.

what hes trying to say is that if the moon rotates in some period, that period is different than the time it takes for the earth to rotate.
as howard explained in his (fantastic) coffee example, it does rotate. the earth rotation causes the moon to 'rise' and 'set'
please, robert, read the explaination, its good

Originally posted by robertfenix
But you fail to realize the moons orbit period is longer then the earth's. Therefore if the moon is indeed "spinning" on its axis then the face you observe would gradually change because the Earths rotation on its axis is slower then the moons orbit.

This differential in orbit times would have a direct affect on the visual appearance of the "face"

Ok, you almost lost me there.

I think that I understand what you are getting at. Yes, it is true that the Moon does not appear to spin in relation to your observation of it, but it does spin in relation to an observer outside of the Earth-moon system. The reason that the moon does not appear to spin in relation to the Earth is related to the tidal drag of the Earth on the moon.

The period of the Earth�s orbit is one year. The Earth�s rotational period is one day. This is entirely separate from the orbit and rotation of the moon.

Actually, the moon has several motions relative to the sun. It spins on its axis, it orbits the barycenter, the plane of its orbit around the barycenter rocks up and down (this is what causes periodic eclipses), and it moves around the sun with the Earth.

www.crystalinks.com...

The asymmetric nature of this gravitational interaction is also responsible for the fact that the Moon rotates synchronously, i.e. it is locked in phase with its orbit so that the same side is always facing toward the Earth. Just as the Earth's rotation is now being slowed by the Moon's influence so in the distant past the Moon's rotation was slowed by the action of the Earth, but in that case the effect was much stronger. When the Moon's rotation rate was slowed to match its orbital period (such that the bulge always faced toward the Earth) there was no longer an off-center torque on the Moon and a stable situation was achieved. The same thing has happened to most of the other satellites in the solar system. Eventually, the Earth's rotation will be slowed to match the Moon's period, too, as is the case with Pluto and Charon.

Why cant you guys understand that the moon does not "spin". The Earth made the moon to stop spinning and eventually the Earth's rotation will stop as well due to the drag from the Moon.

Originally posted by robertfenix
www.crystalinks.com...

The asymmetric nature of this gravitational interaction is also responsible for the fact that the Moon rotates synchronously, i.e. it is locked in phase with its orbit so that the same side is always facing toward the Earth. Just as the Earth's rotation is now being slowed by the Moon's influence so in the distant past the Moon's rotation was slowed by the action of the Earth, but in that case the effect was much stronger. When the Moon's rotation rate was slowed to match its orbital period (such that the bulge always faced toward the Earth) there was no longer an off-center torque on the Moon and a stable situation was achieved. The same thing has happened to most of the other satellites in the solar system. Eventually, the Earth's rotation will be slowed to match the Moon's period, too, as is the case with Pluto and Charon.

Why cant you guys understand that the moon does not "spin". The Earth made the moon to stop spinning and eventually the Earth's rotation will stop as well due to the drag from the Moon.

Sigh. Bobbie, Bobie, Bobie.

You are locked into looking at the solar system as an Earth centered system.

It is not, it is a Heliocentric system. That is the proper frame of reference is from the sun.

From the point of view of the Earth, the planets exhibit retrograde motion. We know however, thatthis isn not true, the planets don't stop and go backward in thier orbits. Form the point of view of the sun, the planets all orbit in elipses. From the point of view of the sun, the moon rotates. That is, the sun shines on all sides of the moon eventualy.


Even if the rotation of the Earth were to slow down to the point were the same side of the Earth always faced the moon, the Earth would still be rotating, becuase the moon orbits the Earth. The days would just be a month long. But again, this is unlikley to happen for hundreds and hundreds of millions of years, so why worry about it. Eventually the Sun will turn into a red giant and the Earth would be toast anyway.

Hi, this is my first post on here. Changing the perspective of the discussion from the earth moon to earth and sun here. Let's see everyone agrees that the Earth rotates or spins right? It takes 24 hours for one complete cycle. What if the cycle took 365 days to spin or rotate. It's possible that the same side of Earth would always face the sun. From the sun's perspective, the Earth would always show the same face. However I believe we could still say that our Earth still spins or rotates but at a rate of 365 days instead of 24 hours. Does this make sense to everyone?