jtb wrote:The moon revolves--changes direction--but does not rotate.
A person at the center of an oval track (earth) racing CW will see the right side of a horse (moon) in every direction.
A person anywhere in the bleachers (external view) will see the right side of the horse at the farthest point of the track, the head when approaching, the left side when closest, and the tail when departing. One rotation per revolution. However, common sense tells us the horse is changing direction, not rotating. The same can be said for the moon.
jtb
Goldminer wrote:So, jtb, if the Moon kept the same portion of its surface presented to the Sun as it orbited the Earth, would you then say it is rotating? (We would then get to see the hidden side of the Moon.)
jtb wrote:Goldminer wrote:So, jtb, if the Moon kept the same portion of its surface presented to the Sun as it orbited the Earth, would you then say it is rotating? (We would then get to see the hidden side of the Moon.)
Goldminer, good question. If the observer in the bleachers of the horse race (sun) were to walk around the outside of the track, they to, would only see one side of the horse (moon)--the left side. The observer at the center of the track (earth) would still see the right side of the horse. The horse is not rotating, it is merely changing direction.
jtb
Goldminer wrote:You dodged the question, didn't you? The observer at the center of the track, in your scenario, made one revolution, per orbit of the horse, just as the horse made one revolution per orbit. Now, if the horse didn't "change direction" (rotate) as it orbited the track; we would get to see both sides of the horse from the center of the track, as we revolved watching the horse, wouldn't we?
jtb wrote:Goldminer wrote:You dodged the question, didn't you? The observer at the center of the track, in your scenario, made one revolution, per orbit of the horse, just as the horse made one revolution per orbit. Now, if the horse didn't "change direction" (rotate) as it orbited the track; we would get to see both sides of the horse from the center of the track, as we revolved watching the horse, wouldn't we?
Goldminer, imagine a string attached from the observer at the center of the track to the horse. If the observer made one revolution and the horse made one revolution, only one side of the horse would be visible to the observer.
If the race track (orbit of the moon) were revolving around the guy in the bleachers (sun), the guy in the bleachers would see all sides of the horse changing direction--one entire vision of the horse per revolution.
jtb
Michael V wrote:I am interpreting peoples opinions correctly (please do correct me if I am wrong):
swj: the Moon rotates on its axis exactly once per orbit
Goldminer: the Moon rotates on its axis exactly once per orbit
jtb: the Moon is "dragged" sideways along its orbit with one face locked to the Earth
Michael V: the Moon is "dragged" sideways along its orbit with one face locked to the Earth
So it's a dead-heat....or ?
Michael V
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