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Dancing with the moon

By
Real Estate Broker/Owner with Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas 398351

 Full moon over Cibolo, TexasThe moon dances around the earth, completing its circle every 27.322 days.

Why can we earthlings only see one half of the moon? Over the millennia, the earth’s gravitation eventually made the moon slow its rotation around its axis. Now it matches the time that it takes to go around the earth. The dark side of the moon isn’t really dark, just invisible to us from earth.

Speaking of rotation, the moon’s energy that causes tides is slowing down earth’s rotation by a whopping 1.5 milliseconds a century.

The moon is using rotational energy to get away from the earth. It started out about 14,000 miles away when it was formed, and is now more than 280,000 miles away. And it’s making good progress: every year its orbit gets larger by about 3.8 centimeters. At that rate, it will only take, oh, 50 billion years or so before it breaks free.

Maybe after it escapes the earth's hold, the moon will find a new dance partner.

Posted by

 

Robin Rogers, REALTOR, Broker-owner, TRC, MRP, CRS

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Comments (8)

Tom Arstingstall, General Contractor, Dry Rot, Water Damage Sacramento, El Dorado County - (916) 765-5366
Dry Rot and Water Damage www.tromlerconstruction.com Mobile - 916-765-5366 - Placerville, CA
General Contractor, Dry Rot and Water Damage

These facts make me feel a bit insignificant Robin Rogers .

Jan 09, 2015 01:11 PM
TeamCHI - Complete Home Inspections, Inc.
Complete Home Inspections, Inc. - Brentwood, TN
Home Inspectons - Nashville, TN area - 615.661.029

 Good morning Robin. Interesting facts. By the time the moon breaks free of Earth's gravitational forces we will all be long gone and not even be a distant memory.

Jan 09, 2015 05:40 PM
Robin Rogers
Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas - San Antonio, TX
CRS, TRC, MRP - Real Estate Investment Adviser

Sorry, Tom, that was not my intent. You are significant! You are a child of the universe!

Michael, maybe by then the moon will have been colonized. It might even be turned into a spaceship.

Jan 09, 2015 10:07 PM
Roy Kelley
Retired - Gaithersburg, MD

Thanks for sharing your photograph and the interesting moon facts.

Have a wonderful weekend with your camera in hand.

Jan 10, 2015 12:51 AM
Elizabeth Weintraub Sacramento Broker
Elizabeth Anne Weintraub, Broker - Sacramento, CA
Put 40 years of experience to work for you

Oh, thank goodness, for a minute there I was worried you were gonna go all Pink Floyd on us.

Jan 10, 2015 09:40 AM
Joan Cox
House to Home, Inc. - Denver Real Estate - 720-231-6373 - Denver, CO
Denver Real Estate - Selling One Home at a Time

I was thinking of Pink Floyd too when reading your title, and it does leave you a bit magical! 

Jan 11, 2015 05:56 AM
Robin Rogers
Robin Rogers, Silverbridge Realty, San Antonio, Texas - San Antonio, TX
CRS, TRC, MRP - Real Estate Investment Adviser

Roy, the sun finally came out this afternoon, so I will keep my camera ready.

There's nothing wrong with Pink Floyd, Elizabeth and Joan! But you have to be in the mood for it.

Jan 11, 2015 07:08 AM
Robert Vegas Bob Swetz
Las Vegas, NV

Hello Robin ... this is some very interesting information and VB is a "Moon Fan"

And here is some very interesting information to add to your knowledge. A friend of mine over 25 years mentioned to me that a "Truly" Full Moon only comes around every 7 years. He took classes in college on Astrology 

Jan 11, 2015 11:10 AM