Thursday, 11 July 2019

newtonian mechanics - Why does the Moon face Earth with the same side?


I know that the rotation period of the moon equals its revolution period. It's just so astonishing that these 2 values have such a small difference. I mean, what is the probability of these 2 values to be practically the same? I don't believe this to be a coincidence. It's just too much for a coincidence. What could have caused this?



Answer



This is a gravitational phenomenon known as tidal lock. It is closely related to the phenomenon of tides on Earth, hence the name.


Tidal locking is an effect caused by the gravitational gradient from the near side to the far side of the moon. (That is, the continuous variation of the gravitational field strength across the Moon.) The end result is that the Moon rotates around its own axis with the same period as which it rotates around the Earth, causing the face of one hemisphere always to point towards the Earth.



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