Why do we only have one moon and one sun and one solar system?

Answer 1

That is a great question, but a better one (related) is why do we have any moon at all? Our giant neighbors can grab passing objects and capture them as moons. The earth isn't nearly as massive as the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn and Uranus. Scientists have determined that it is very unlikely that our moon coalesced (came together) out of the 'accretion' disk of materials swirling around our part of space circling the sun. One of the better current theories is that our moon formed as a result of a spectacular collision the earth had with a rogue planet that was flying through.

Answer 2

No it's not true because the moon (rotate) from earth earth gravity afected the rotation of the moon so that it always keeps same face toward Earth (revolution). the word for this is ''Tidally locked" The moon is still spinning but it takes exactly the same time (about the 28 days) as it circling of the earth. this means that the other side (the far side) is always facing away and never seen from earth.

(*Due to slight changes called calibration we can see slightly more than half of the moon over the time of it's orbit*)

Answer 3

Same reason as why the moon only has one earth! It just happenned. There are loads of satelites around the earth,but only one large enough to affect the earths climate and atmosphere -- the moon.

Answer 4

The most popular theory for the creation of the Moon is that soon after formation of the Earth there was a massive collision with a large body (called Theia) blasting material into space. Gravity would tend to pull this material together to form a sphere.

See related question.

Answer 5

The moon spins on its axis in 29.3 days so in theory you would see the other side. However, it also rotates around the earth in 29.3 days so presents that side only, even though it is spinning.

Answer 6

The moon's rotation and revolution are exactly synchronized. That means that the moon revolves around the earth in exactly the same amount of time it takes to rotate once on its axis. Those two motions combine to keep the same small region on the moon's surface always pointed toward the earth.

Answer 7

we don't have only one moon, earth only has one moon but Jupiter has 63 know moons, Pluto has a moon, mars has 2, Saturn has 62, uranus has 27, neptune has 13. All together there is 168 moons in our solar system. But the sun is really just a really big star and there are lots of stars in the solar system.Plus there might be other solar systems in the so called univeres

Answer 8

The moon rotates on its axis, as does the earth. The moon's rotation has the same angular speed as its orbit, so that as it orbits, the near side always turns to keep facing earth. This happens because the moon has become tidally locked with earth. Earth's gravity pulled on a tidal bulge it created on the moon, slowing its rotation until it became locked in this manner.
The Moon's period of rotation is the same as the period of its orbit, so it rotates once per new moon cycle. We believe that the Moon is "tidally locked" to the Earth.

Just as the Moon's gravity on the Earth causes tides in Earth's oceans, the Earth exerts a tidal force on the Moon. But the Moon has no oceans; only rock. Because the Earth is much more massive than the Moon, the Moon's rocks feel even a greater force than the force of Earth's tides. These forces, over the past 4 billion years or so, have slowed the rotation of the Moon so that the same face always points toward the Earth.
Simply because - the moon takes the same time to rotate once on its axis, as it takes to orbit the earth.
We only see one side of the moon because the moon spins at the same rate as it orbits earth.
We can see only one side (face) of the moon because the Moon has become "tidally locked" to the Earth due to gravity. The Moon still rotates, but the period of that rotation is now exactly equal to the period of revolution around the Earth.

This means that the same side is always facing the Earth, and the other side (the far side) facing away.
We only ever see one side of the Moon because the period of the Moon's orbit matches the period of the Moon's rotation. So, basically the Moon turns at the same rate it goes around Earth.
The Earth only sees one side of the Moon because the Moon makes one rotation on its axis in the same time as it makes one orbit of the Earth. This is because the moon is tidally locked with the Earth (in the past it rotated and the Earth did see the other side).
We can not see the ''backside'' of the moon is because the moon's rotation period exactly matches its revolution period around the Earth. Because the moon rotates at the same speed as it revolves around the Earth, only one side of the moon is ever or is going to be seen on Earth.

And the moon only reflects where the sun hits it. If your wondering about the other side of the moon when its full... its because we're not in the right possition. if you hold your hand up directly in front of you with the back or front of your hand facing you, why cant you see the other side? because your not in the right position. i think its almost impossible to see the whole of something.
The Moon is "tidal locked" by gravity to Earth. It's the same thing as if you grabbed a Basketball with two hands, held it out in front of you with your arms outstretched, and began to spin your whole body. The same side of the basketball would face you, even as you turned in a circle.
Earth's gravity has affected the rotation of the Moon so that it always keeps the same face toward Earth. Its rate of spin (rotation) has become equal to the rate at which it orbits the Earth (revolution). The word for this is "tidally locked". The Moon is still spinning, but it takes exactly the same time (about 28 days) as its circling of the Earth. This means that the other side (the far side) is always facing away, and is never seen from Earth.

(*Due to slight changes called libration, we can see slightly more than half of the Moon over the time of its orbit.)

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The moon is 'tidally locked' with earth. Over the course of her existence the moon's former rotational movement slowed because one hemisphere of the moon is a little more massive than its complimentary hemisphere. Over time, the more massive hemisphere, the one we see, became permanently oriented toward the earth. All orbiting bodies (at least the mostly rigid ones) have a tendency toward this tidal locking.

There are some slight variations in the actual view of the Moon that is observable from Earth, and these variations are caused by what are called libration in latitude, libration in longitude, and diurnal libration. They would make an interesting study for people who are interested. Over a period of roughly 15 years, quite a bit more than 50% of the Moon's surface will have been observable from Earth.
Because the moon rotates on its own axis with exactly the same period as it

revolves around the earth. So for example:

-- In the time it takes to orbit 1/4 of the way around the earth, it spins 1/4 of a spin.

-- In the time it takes to orbit 1/2 of the way around the earth, it spins 1/2 of a spin.

-- In the time it takes to orbit 90% of the way around the earth, it spins 90% of a spin.

The match is so exact that in the entire recorded history of humans on earth, nobody

ever saw anything on the other side of the moon until the 1960s, when the Russians

sent a spacecraft around the moon, to take pictures of the backside and radio them

back to earth.
The Moon orbits the Earth and also the Moon rotates on its axis. These two things take exactly the same time (due to gravitational effects). The result is that we always see the same side of the Moon.
The Moon orbits around the Earth, but does not rotate on its axis. Therefore, the same face of the Moon always faces towards the Earth. A rocket was once sent around the Moon to view the Moon's other side. Apparently, all sides of the Moon looked the same!

Because the moon's periods of rotation on its axis and of revolution around the Earth

are equal ... 27.32 days.

-- To an observer on Earth, the moon always presents the same face.

-- To an observer on the moon, the Earth is always at nearly the same place in the sky.

. . . . . . If the observer is on the side of the moon that faces Earth, it's ALWAYS in his sky,

and he can watch the Earth rotate completely, roughly every 24 hours 50 minutes.

. . . . . . If the observer is on the side that doesn't face Earth, then it's NEVER in his sky.

The Moon rotates at the same speed as it orbits the earth - once a month. (its called tidal locking).

Answer 9

Take a Baseball, a tennis ball, a Golf ball, a basketball, a soccer ball, and a flashlight

into a dark room. If you can find any possible way to use the flashlight to illuminate

more than 50% of any sphere at any moment, without mirrors, please come back

and explain it to us.

Answer 10

It doesn't. Every point on the moon is in sunlight exactly 50% of the time ... same as on earth.

The exact area that's included in the lighted 50% keeps changing as the moon rotates ... same

as on earth.

The sun only shines on one side of the moon at a time ... same as on earth. This is because

as hard as you try, there's no way you can illuminate more than 50% of a ball with a flashlight

in a dark room.