Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

Synchronous rotation

 
Sci-Tech Dictionary: synchronous rotation
Home > Library > Science > Sci-Tech Dictionary
(′siŋ·krə·nəs rō′tā·shən)

(astronomy) The rotation of a planet or satellite whose period is equal to its orbital period.

Search unanswered questions...

Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics

Wikipedia: Synchronous rotation
Top
Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Due to synchronous rotation of their moon, the inhabitants of the central body will never be able to see its green side.

In astronomy, synchronous rotation is a planetological term describing a body orbiting another, where the orbiting body takes as long to rotate on its axis as it does to make one orbit; and therefore always keeps the same hemisphere pointed at the body it is orbiting. Another way of describing it is that from the surface of the satellite, the main planet appears to be locked in place in the sky as it slowly rotates.

The Moon is in synchronous rotation about the Earth. In fact, most major moons in the solar system have synchronous rotation due to tidal locking.

See also

External links

Stub icon This astronomy-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Sci-Tech Dictionary. McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms. Copyright © 2003, 1994, 1989, 1984, 1978, 1976, 1974 by McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Synchronous rotation".  Read more