Changes

2.  The Moon presents the same side to Earth at all times, even though the Moon revolves around the Earth.  That requires the rotation of the Moon to be timed precisely to offset the separate effects of the revolution around Earth.  This has an awesome artistic or design effect without any plausible physical reason.

2.  The Moon presents the same side to Earth at all times, even though the Moon revolves around the Earth.  That requires the rotation of the Moon to be timed precisely to offset the separate effects of the revolution around Earth.  This has an awesome artistic or design effect without any plausible physical reason.

Skeptics sought to explain this remarkable phenomenon by saying that tidal forces on Earth caused a bulge on the Moon, thereby locking in the rotation of the Moon so that its same face always presents to the Earth.  They asserted that the planet Mercury has a similar locked rotation due to gravitation forces from the sun, such that the same side of Mercury always faces the sun.

Skeptics sought to explain this remarkable phenomenon by saying that tidal forces on Earth caused a bulge on the Moon, thereby locking in the rotation of the Moon so that its same face always presents to the Earth.  They asserted that the planet Mercury has a similar locked rotation due to gravitational forces from the sun, such that the same side of Mercury always faces the sun.

But this explanation was ultimately proven wrong.<ref>http://physics.fortlewis.edu/Astronomy/astronomy%20today/CHAISSON/AT308/HTML/AT30803.HTM</ref>

But this explanation was ultimately proven wrong.<ref>http://physics.fortlewis.edu/Astronomy/astronomy%20today/CHAISSON/AT308/HTML/AT30803.HTM</ref>