The moon is rotating around its axis: time lapse video which is impossible to do from Earth

The moon's rotation around its axis is synchronized with the rotation around the Earth. This phenomenon is called tidal capture, and for this reason we can see the back side of the moon is only satellite images. New timelapse video shows the moon's rotation with all parties and their geological features.

In the beginning of the video the Moon looks as we see it from Earth. Soon as rotation in the frame appears the Eastern Sea (lat. Mare Orientale) — the dark area just below the equator, located in the multi-ring impact crater.

As you can see, on the visible side of the moon is dominated by lunar sea — the dark areas, which is a lowland with a flat bottom of the hardened lava. The reverse side is mostly light — there is mountainous terrain.

To create this video we used images obtained by the lunar probe Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO). The time span covers a full lunar month, compressed to 24 seconds.

Currently, eight countries produce more than 19 missions to the moon, most of which is planned to start in the next three years.

Translated by «Yandex.Translator»