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Astronomy Picture of the Day - Lunar Nearside
NASA ^ | 20 Jul, 2025 | Image Credit: NASA / GSFC / Arizona State Univ. / Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter

Posted on 07/20/2025 1:07:31 PM PDT by MtnClimber

Explanation: About 1,300 images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft's wide angle camera were used to compose this spectacular view of a familiar face - the lunar nearside. But why is there a lunar nearside? The Moon rotates on its axis and orbits the Earth at the same rate, about once every 28 days. Tidally locked in this configuration, the synchronous rotation always keeps one side, the nearside, facing Earth. As a result, featured in remarkable detail in the full resolution mosaic, the smooth, dark, lunar maria (actually lava-flooded impact basins), and rugged highlands, are well-known to earthbound skygazers. To find your favorite mare or large crater, just follow this link or slide your cursor over the picture. The LRO images used to construct the mosaic were recorded over a two week period in December 2010.


TOPICS: Astronomy; Astronomy Picture of the Day; Science
KEYWORDS: apod; astronomy; lro; moon; nasa; science; themoon
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To: MtnClimber

Thanks. That’s really cool.


41 posted on 07/20/2025 7:11:01 PM PDT by TigersEye (The Golden Age of MAGA is upon us!)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets
True path with respect to what?

Is it a smooth ellipse?

Or is it a scalloped ellipse?

That orbit looks very round to your eye.

With respect, I can't see the orbit with my eye at all.

42 posted on 07/20/2025 7:19:44 PM PDT by TigersEye (The Golden Age of MAGA is upon us!)
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To: SunkenCiv
Actually, you covered it in your post #20 (not #24) when you said:

”The Earth continues to push the Moon away and lose a tiny bit of rotational momentum as it does this. Dunno the math, but it’s possible that the Earth will push the Moon far enough away that the Moon will be lost, at least for some period of time. That’ll be a bad crazy day, but it won’t be anytime soon.

Just for the record.

43 posted on 07/20/2025 8:34:40 PM PDT by HandyDandy (“Borders, language and culture.” Michael Savage)
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To: HandyDandy

Yes, but tHere was much more in 24.


44 posted on 07/20/2025 9:33:15 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (The moron troll Ted Holden believes that humans originated on Ganymede.)
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To: TigersEye

The ellipse would look like a circle when viewed from above, only about 3% wider in the fat direction than the skinny. The size of the loops in the earth’s orbit would be about 30 one-millionths of the average size of the radii of the ellipse. The pitch of the ellipse would be about 12.37 turns per orbit around the sun, but it would never close on itself exactly, so it would simply blur the linewidth slightly.


45 posted on 07/21/2025 3:18:06 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (Nullius in verba)
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To: Theophilus

I have no idea. But with the amount of craters there must be an incredible amount of wealth in metals, minerals, etc., from meteor and asteroid even comet hits.


46 posted on 07/21/2025 3:40:49 AM PDT by Omnivore-Dan (have to )
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To: HandyDandy

The impact on the Earth’s weather will be immense. Less and less tide movement which will alter wind currents which in turn will alter our weather. For good or bad I have no idea, but it will take millions of years, so not on my list to be concerned about.


47 posted on 07/21/2025 3:46:31 AM PDT by Omnivore-Dan (have to )
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To: MtnClimber

Very cool. Thanks


48 posted on 07/21/2025 3:46:42 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America.)
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