Theory's on the MOON (please read)

[shottie]

First off, how beautiful would the moon look if it spun on its own axis???

Supposedly the moon is the only celestial body (known to man) that does not spin on its own axis. And there are bases on the dark side etc.

In the UK where i am now the moon looks particularly beautiful, at 10pm.

Im have been looking at it through a 20X telescope lens, and the moon is full and lit up brightly.

This is how it looks
http://www.russellsastronomy.com/sky/14%20day%20moon%20sm.jpg

Imagine if the moon did spin, at night it would be clearly visible for all to see..
Could it be possible to think the moon to spin? If it could just imagine the other possibilities....



http://www.hoax-slayer.com/images/north-pole-moon2.jpg

Click here for a massive image of the moon
http://www.noao.edu/image_gallery/images/d3/FullMoon.jpg
Right click the image then 'save as' to your desktop.

[thunda]

Actually, the moon does spin on its axis .. to take a quote from :

http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=142

Be a little careful . . . the Moon does rotate. If you stood on the Moon, the stars would rise and set, just like they do on Earth, except that a lunar day is a month long, the same as the Moon's orbital period. The Moon rotates at just the right speed so that it always keeps one face pointed toward the Earth, which seems like a pretty big coincidence, doesn't it?

Your question is very interesting because the answer is that, no, the Moon is not unique. Almost all moons in the Solar System keep one face pointed toward their planet. (The only exception we know of is Hyperion, a moon of Saturn.) This tells us it's probably not a coincidence, that there is probably a reason for this to happen, a physical process that happens to most moons to slow their rotation.

That process is called tidal friction. You probably know that the Moon's gravity affects the Earth's oceans. Well, the Earth's gravity also affects the Moon. It distorts the Moon's shape slightly, squashing it out so that it is elongated along a line that points toward the Earth. We say that the Earth raises "tidal bulges" on the Moon.


The Earth's gravity pulls on the closest tidal bulge, trying to keep it aligned with Earth. As the Moon turns, feeling the Earth's gravity, this creates friction within the Moon, slowing the Moon's rotation down until its rotation matches its orbital period exactly, a state we call tidal synchronization. In this state, the Moon's tidal bulge is always aligned with Earth, which means that the Moon always keeps one face toward Earth.

[peachped]

Who built the moon?
http://www.cookpr.com/press/watkins_moon.html

[raffles]

Who built the moon?
http://www.cookpr.com/press/watkins_moon.html

great info !!
Think ill check that book out.