Posted on 11/19/2025 10:11:28 AM PST by MtnClimber
Explanation: No one on Earth sees the Moon rotate like this. That's because the Moon is tidally locked in synchronous rotation, showing only one side to denizens of our fair planet. Still, given modern digital technology, combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high resolution virtual Moon rotation movie can be composed. In fact, the featured time-lapse video starts with a view of the familiar lunar nearside and quickly finds the Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotating into view just below the equator. In a complete lunar rotation condensed into 24 seconds, the video clearly shows that the Earth-facing nearside of the Moon contains an abundance of dark lunar maria, while the lunar farside is dominated by bright lunar highlands. Of course, you can just join other moon-watchers under hopefully clear skies tonight. Check out the sunlit portion of the lunar nearside on International Observe the Moon Night.
The video is at the source link
🪐 🌟 🌌 🍔
The video is at the source link
Rotating Moon...................
I seen ‘em.
They’re back on the other side, hiding’ from us!
It would be cool if the Moon DID rotate; what new scenery we amateurs would be able to explore. Not that I’m done exploring the Near Side, there’s plenty to look at there.
🌛 It does rotate, but just enough to (mostly) show the same face as it orbits the Earth. 🌜
There’s a GIF around here somewhere showing the slightly irregular motion.
Ah:
https://freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3691563/posts?page=4#4
No one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this. That's because the Earth's moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us only one side. Given modern digital technology, however, combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high resolution virtual Moon rotation movie has now been composed. The above time-lapse video starts with the standard Earth view of the Moon. Quickly, though, Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotates into view just below the equator. From an entire lunar month condensed into 24 seconds, the video clearly shows that the Earth side of the Moon contains an abundance of dark lunar maria, while the lunar far side is dominated by bright lunar highlands. Currently, over 20 new missions to the Moon are under active development from four different countries, most of which have expected launch dates either this year or next.Rotating Moon from LRO | 0:24
APOD Videos | 31.2K subscribers | 1,797,693 views | September 11, 2013Credit: NASA, Arizona State U., NASA
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