Is its rotation on its own axis so perfectly synchronized to how it rotates around the earth? I imagine even a fraction of a degree off will eventually cause a part of the other side to be revealed even if it takes a very long time.
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It’s called tidal locking. The moon used to not be synchronised. But, just as we have tides on Earth, the Earth was causing a similar effect on the Moon with the moon rock itself, but much smaller of course since rock doesn’t flow very well.
This caused a bulge on the side of the moon facing Earth, and as it rotates further, that bulge is not quite aimed at Earth, but offset.
This in turn makes Earth’s gravity pull unevenly on the Moon, by pulling harder on that bulge because it’s closer. And because it’s not aimed straight at Earth, this causes torque which slowly but surely eventually synchronised the moon’s rotation with its orbit.
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