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The moon is tidally locked to the Earth, so the same part always faces us.
How does this work? It rotates at exactly the rate necessary to keep that alignment. The reason is that gravitational bulges on the moon, caused by the Earth's gravity (moon tides) are attracted differentially by the earth's gravity and this puts the brakes on the moon's spin. As this happens, the moon is pushed away from the Earth, because the energy has to go somewhere!
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Explain what causes us to see the different phases of the moon Include in your explanation a reference to the motion of the moon involved the relationship of the earth's and moon's plane of orbit a?
What you can see of the moon is the light of the sun on the moon. The part that is dark is where the sun's light is not shining on the moon. The part where the light of the sun is on the moon is experiencing "moon day" and where it is not shining is the "moon night." When the moon is in part of its orbit that is between the earth and the sun, we mostly see the part of the moon which is dark. Since the moon is on the sun's side of the earth, we see it during the day. So a New Moon can always be seen during the day. Conversely, when the moon is in the part of its orbit in which the earth is between the moon and the sun, we mostly see the part of the moon which is in sunshine. We mostly see the moon at night, and a Full Moon can always be seen during the night. It is important to note that the dark part of the moon is not the earth's shadow on the moon. The earth's shadow falls on the moon occurs during a lunar eclipse, which is always during a full moon because the earth is between the sun and the moon and always seen at night.
Why does the moon appears to change shapes?
the moon appears to change shapes because you only see the part of it that reflects sunlight THAT YOU CAN SEE. so of the 1/2 of the moon that is illuminated, you only see part of it, the part changing as the moon orbits the earth.
What you see of the moon depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces the earth?
Yes, exactly. The part of the Moon we see bright is the part that is exposed to direct sunlight.
If the moon is half full as seen from earth what would earth look like to a man on the moon?
If you are on the moon at the time of "New Moon", and you are facing the earth, you see a "Full Earth". If you stay up there a while, and call your partner on earth every day, and you describe to each other what you're seeing, you'll notice something very interesting: The part of the moon that HE sees, plus the part of the earth that YOU see, always adds up to a complete circle of illumination. Each of you sees the part of the circle that the other one is missing.
Can people only see the part of the moon where the sun is shining on it?
This is essentially correct. When part of the moon is in darkness, we can't see it. Additionally, the same side of the moon faces earth all the time as our satellite is locked in its orbit to constantly face earth. We only see the portion of the moon that is both illuminated by the sun and facing the earth.
What part of the moon do you see when it orbit earth?
whichever part you see
On earth what part of the moon do you see?
The near side.
What part of the Moon do you see from Earth?
Weird people
Explain what causes us to see the different phases of the moon Include in your explanation a reference to the motion of the moon involved the relationship of the earth's and moon's plane of orbit a?
What you can see of the moon is the light of the sun on the moon. The part that is dark is where the sun's light is not shining on the moon. The part where the light of the sun is on the moon is experiencing "moon day" and where it is not shining is the "moon night." When the moon is in part of its orbit that is between the earth and the sun, we mostly see the part of the moon which is dark. Since the moon is on the sun's side of the earth, we see it during the day. So a New Moon can always be seen during the day. Conversely, when the moon is in the part of its orbit in which the earth is between the moon and the sun, we mostly see the part of the moon which is in sunshine. We mostly see the moon at night, and a Full Moon can always be seen during the night. It is important to note that the dark part of the moon is not the earth's shadow on the moon. The earth's shadow falls on the moon occurs during a lunar eclipse, which is always during a full moon because the earth is between the sun and the moon and always seen at night.
Can people on earth always see thee part of the moon that is illuminated?
No, we can see only 59% of the moon.
Why does the moon appears to change shapes?
the moon appears to change shapes because you only see the part of it that reflects sunlight THAT YOU CAN SEE. so of the 1/2 of the moon that is illuminated, you only see part of it, the part changing as the moon orbits the earth.
When do you see the whole lighted part of the moon?
When the Moon is the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun.
What you see of the moon depends on how much of the sunlit side of the moon faces the earth?
Yes, exactly. The part of the Moon we see bright is the part that is exposed to direct sunlight.
What do you call the moon when it is not visable on earth?
the part of the moon cycle when you would not see it is called the new moon.
If the moon is half full as seen from earth what would earth look like to a man on the moon?
If you are on the moon at the time of "New Moon", and you are facing the earth, you see a "Full Earth". If you stay up there a while, and call your partner on earth every day, and you describe to each other what you're seeing, you'll notice something very interesting: The part of the moon that HE sees, plus the part of the earth that YOU see, always adds up to a complete circle of illumination. Each of you sees the part of the circle that the other one is missing.
'When a full moon occurs if there were people on the moon would they see a 'full' Earth'?
Not necessarily. Think about it... if you can see a full moon in the middle of the night, then someone on the moon would be able to see your part of the earth.... which would be in darkness.
How much of the moon do you see if it is a new moon?
All of it. We can see the dark part of the Moon too, due to light reflected off Earth.
