Date: Monday, 28 February 2005, 2:56 a.m.
April 23, 1999 Paige (age 14, Texas, USA) I would like to know... what direction does the moon appear to move at night- east to west or west to east? (answer) The moon appears to move east to west, as do all celestial bodies, due to the direction of the Earth's spin.
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The moon USED to appear to move east to west.
If you care to keep loose track of the moon during normal
hours when you have a moment or two, you will see all sorts of amazing manuevers. The moon is supposed to follow the sun basically. The easiest time to keep track and notice the anomalies from month to month is during the phase of the full moon.
Example of an anomaly:
Last month (January) after the full moon, it moved from east to the north each following night. This month (February) the moon has taken it upon itself to switch direction completely, rising in the northeast and moving SOUTH each following evening...
Along with the added phenomenon of deciding not to rise and cross the sky, but to slink along the horizon, never reaching zenith. Hmmm...Zenith! They even have a word for it!!! They need a high zenith apparently, and a low zenith for the times when the moon doesn't CROSS the sky, but moves along the horizon..like tonight for example.
All you have to do is take a look outside, keep your eyes open and use your discernment to figure out for yourself if I am just a few nickels short of a dollar...or if something IS weird!
The next several questions deal with the moons face appearing the same night after night. Please see for yourself if the face of the moon is as you have always remembered it? Most people have not even bothered to look for themselves, why should they? It's the moon. Why would it change? That is what I ask myself a lot lately...Look for yourselves is all I can say. It isn't hidden, and it isn't subtle...It is the moon. Nobody can hide it!!!
Have fun!!!!
Bonnie
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Joe (Age 46) Is the dark side of the moon always in darkness? Does it ever face the sun? What about during a solar eclipse?
(answer)
The "dark side" of the moon is not always dark. The reason it is called the "dark side" is that that side of the moon is never visible from Earth. The moon's rotation and orbit are synchronized in such a way that we can only see one side. However, that "dark side" (or far side which is a more appropriate name!) does see the sun. For example, when we see only a sliver of the moon, most of the far side is facing the sun. During a solar eclipse, all of the far side is sunlit!
May 27, 1998 Ty (age 43, South Carolina, USA) How is it that the Moons rotation and revolution are the same? What are the odds? (answer)
It may seem quite a coincidence that the Moon's rotation and revolution have the same period, so that the same side of the Moon is always facing us. But in fact most moons in the solar system have a similar synchronous orbit, caused by the tidal forces exerted on the moon by the planet.
May 22, 1998 Joseph (age 6, Pennsylvania, USA) Why does the earth spin? I know that it has always been spinning, but what started it? Why does the moon not spin? Does it have to do with gravity? (answer)
Well, the answer to your question starts way back with the Big Bang. Matter spun off of this original explosion (much like water spins in smaller circles when you swirl your hand through it). The Earth and other planets continue to spin unless acted on by an outside force (a big comet hitting the planet, etc).
The Moon actually does spin. It rotates just once as it orbits the Earth. This is the reason we always see one side of the Moon.
May 12, 1998 Abbie (age 24, Spain) In which direction does the moon rotate, clockwise or counterclockwise, and in which direction does the sun rotate? The Moon and the Sun both rotate counterclockwise. They exhibit direct orbital motion (as opposed to retrograde) - or counterclockwise when viewed from the north pole of the celestial sphere.
March 3, 1998 Connor Why doesn't the moon keep on going in a straight line into the universe? And can you tell me how it was proven(if it has) that the earth doesn't orbit around the moon.
(answer)
The reason the moon doesn't continue out into the universe is that the Earth exerts a pull on the moon, which keeps it orbiting the Earth. Since the Earth is so big compared to the moon, it pulls the moon toward it. In a sense, the moon is falling towards the Earth, but since the moon is also moving forwards, it ends up going around and around the Earth.
The reason we know the Earth doesn't orbit the moon is that the Earth is so much bigger than the moon. The gravitational pull of the moon isn't enough to pull the Earth into its orbit.
February 17, 1998 Salma (age 12, Egypt) Does the moon rotate in an elliptical orpit or a circular one? (answer)
The moon's orbit around the Earth is almost circular, but not quite. So it is slightly eliptical. The moon's orbit along with the Earth around the Sun is just plain eliptical.
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