Lunar Rotation

The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. It is the largest natural satellite in the Solar System relative to the size of its planet, a quarter the diameter of Earth and 1/81 its mass, and is the second densest satellite after Io. It is in synchronous rotation with Earth, always showing the same face; the near side is marked with dark volcanic maria among the bright ancient crustal highlands and prominent impact craters. Despite being the brightest object in the sky after the Sun, its surface is actually very dark, with a similar reflectance to coal. Its prominence in the sky and its regular cycle of phases have since ancient times made the Moon an important cultural influence on language, the calendar, art and mythology. The Moon's gravitational influence produces the ocean tides and the minute lengthening of the day. The Moon's current orbital distance, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth, causes it to be the same size in the sky as the Sun allowing the Moon to cover the Sun precisely in total solar eclipses.

The Moon is the only celestial body on which humans have made a manned landing. While the Soviet Union's Luna programme was the first to reach the Moon with unmanned spacecraft, the United States' NASA Apollo program achieved the only manned missions to date, beginning with the first manned lunar orbiting mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972 the first being Apollo 11 in 1969. These missions returned over 380 kg of lunar rocks, which have been used to develop a detailed geological understanding of the Moon's origins (it is thought to have formed some 4.5 billion years ago in a giant impact), the formation of its internal structure, and its subsequent history.

Moon
Orbital characteristics
Perigee 363,104 km (0.0024 AU)
Apogee 405,696 km (0.0027 AU)
Semi-major axis 384,399 km (0.00257 AU)
Eccentricity 0.0549
Orbital period 27.321582 d (27 d 7 h 43.1 min)
Synodic period 29.530589 d (29 d 12 h 44 min 2.9 s)
Average orbital speed 1.022 km/s
Inclination 5.145° to the ecliptic
(between 18.29° and 28.58° to Earth's equator)
Longitude of ascending node regressing by one revolution in 18.6 years
Argument of perigee progressing by one revolution in 8.85 years
Satellite of Earth
Physical characteristics
Mean radius 1,737.10 km (0.273 Earths)
Equatorial radius 1,738.14 km (0.273 Earths)
Polar radius 1,735.97 km (0.273 Earths)
Flattening 0.00125
Circumference 10,921 km (equatorial)
Surface area 3.793 × 107 km2 (0.074 Earths)
Volume 2.1958 × 1010 km3 (0.020 Earths)
Mass 7.3477 × 1022 kg (0.0123 Earths)
Mean density 3,346.4 kg/m3
Equatorial surface gravity 1.622 m/s2 (0.165 4 g)
Escape velocity 2.38 km/s
Sidereal rotation
period 27.321582 d (synchronous)
Equatorial rotation velocity 4.627 m/s
Axial tilt 1.5424° (to ecliptic)
6.687° (to orbit plane)
Albedo 0.136
Surface temp. min mean max equator 100 K 220 K 390 K 85°N 70 K 130 K 230 K

Apparent magnitude −2.5 to −12.9
−12.74 (mean full Moon)
Angular diameter 29.3 to 34.1 arcminutes
Atmosphere
Surface pressure 10−7 Pa (day)
10−10 Pa (night)
Composition Ar, He, Na, K, H, Rn

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• Moon Rotation
• lunar rotation
• moon
• lunar
• Earth Moon
• Lunar farside
• Lunar Atlas
• Earth sattelite
• solar system
• space
• apollo
• kurdistan planetarium
• Kurd
• Kurdistan

[ubuibiok]

Cool, 360* rotation view of Earth's Moon, see the Backside, link here on twitter

[KurdstanPlanetarium]

@ubuibiok Thanks...usually the backside of the moon is called the farside, in the past they used to call it wrongly the darkside of the moon, which is not true as we know sun lights does shines there for 2 Earthly weeks, then it becomes dark or night time for another 2 weeks, and the cycle continues every lunar month...

[KurdstanPlanetarium]

@elainepul you welcome, glad to be of a help...and you know what, its right from this visula attraction, fright from the earliest days of conscious man from his sometimes wondering and sometimes trembling contemplation of the heaven that Astronomy was bron.

It is the first and the most exciting of all branches of sciences.

I have many vidoes dealing with basics of Astronomy, the sort you like it, and gives answer to your questions, so enjoy them all.

[elainepul]

@elainepul con't to pay a lot more attention to the earth and heavens,love planetariums,will try to bring you more subs,thanks again for answering and calming my nerves,so I can calm others

[elainepul]

@KurdstanPlanetarium Thank you so much for your reply,freaking a lot of people out and I am one of them,strange isn't how when things are brought to light sometimes you see it for the first time,I will be watching this winter and if it doesn't return to normal I am leaving the planet,lol,but really all joking aside I am keeping the answer so when my friends point it out again I can show them,guess all the pole shifting and heaven watching is getting to some of us,I am one,I sure am learning

[KurdstanPlanetarium]

@elainepul you are absolutely right, thats what happen to rising sun,depending on seasons.

The Sun rises due East and Sets due West only in the begining of Spring and Autumn Equinox, as its overhead on the Equator. however moving towards the Summer the Sun also rises along the Ecliptic line, or towards Tropic of Cancer on Earth, so The Sun rises due NE as you rightly pointed out, and sets NW. so it takes a longer arc and so daylight is longer, the situation is reversed during winter slostice.

[KurdstanPlanetarium]

@elainepul you are absolutely right, thats what happen to rising sun,depending on seasons.

The Sun rises due East and Sets due West only in the begining of Spring and Autumn Equinox, as its overhead on the Equator. however moving towards the Summer the Sun also rises along the Ecliptic line, or towards Tropic of Cancer on Earth, so The Sun rises due NE as you rightly pointed out, and sets NW. so it takes a longer arc and so daylight is longer, the situation is reversed during winter slostice.

[elainepul]

@KurdstanPlanetarium enjoyed your video,but would like your take on something,I rented my apartment,because the sun rose at my back door and set at my front,but this summer it now rises at my side(NE more towards the north than east and sets SW) I am not crazy,do you say this has not happen? Are if you say it has why has not astromony not address this,I am not the only one that has noticed this.

[TheSunEast]

to short but beautiful

[therobanata]

Extraterrestrials live inside. Why has no country gone back?

[KurdstanPlanetarium]

@auriciangelescu My pleasure and thanks...yes sometimes i upload documentary videos that is educational, but like you said its my aim to do basics of Astronomy