I understand the moon phases, so I don’t need information on that. I can’t wrap my head around the way the earth rotates and the moon orbits at the same time. I have read anton of articles, but just get more and more confused. Do they go in the same direction? How does this work??
Also, i am aphantastic, so please dont try to explain this by telling me to picture something spinning in my head. That just gives me a headache.
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>Also, i am aphantastic, so please dont try to explain this by telling me to picture something spinning in my head
Well then, picture you standing up, holding your toddler by both hands, leaning backwards and spinning them around in the air. They love it.
Now also imagine that, instead of the both of you spinning around in the same spot, you are moving around in such a way you’re circling a tree.
That’s basically the sun/moon/earth system. You’re the Earth, the tree is the Sun, your kid is the Moon. Earth circles the Sun, Moon circles Earth. Moon always faces Earth (or at least, always presents the same face to the Earth since, unlike your toddler, the moon doesn’t have one definite face).
There’s only one catch: the Earth is actually spinning much faster than you spinning your toddler. The Moon doesn’t need to be held by the arms after all, it simply obeys the laws of gravity. The Earth has its own spin. Whilst the Moon circles the Earth in 28 days, the Earth rotates once every 24 hours. That’s what allows everyone around the globe to see the same phase of the moon on a given night/day cycle.
Any questions, do ask.
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