[PreciousLiberty]

“I don’t think that is correct. The moon does not rotate.”

Yes it does, as any basic astronomy text would tell you.

“If it did, we would see the other side of the moon regularly.”

No, if it DID NOT rotate we’d see the other side as it orbited the Earth. The Moon is tidally locked and rotates once per orbit, always keeping the same side facing the Earth.

I hope that cleared things up for you. If not:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moon#Two_sides_of_the_Moon

[fr_freak]

“I don’t think that is correct. The moon does not rotate.”

Yes it does, as any basic astronomy text would tell you.

“If it did, we would see the other side of the moon regularly.”

No, if it DID NOT rotate we’d see the other side as it orbited the Earth. The Moon is tidally locked and rotates once per orbit, always keeping the same side facing the Earth.

I stand corrected. From what I gather on the wikipedia page (good write-up, by the way), they are defining rotation as movement about the moon's axis, which, I'm sure is the correct astronomical definition. However, relative to the Earth, the moon does not rotate, which is what I was trying to say.

[Yollopoliuhqui]

How many other moons are “tidally locked” with their parent bodies? What are the chances that a captured body would have the precise trajectory and rotation to become captured and tidally locked? Why is the Earth and all other planets not tidally locked with the sun?