Ask Science
Ask a science question, get a science answer.
Community Rules
Rule 1: Be respectful and inclusive.
Treat others with respect, and maintain a positive atmosphere.
Rule 2: No harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or trolling.
Avoid any form of harassment, hate speech, bigotry, or offensive behavior.
Rule 3: Engage in constructive discussions.
Contribute to meaningful and constructive discussions that enhance scientific understanding.
Rule 4: No AI-generated answers.
Strictly prohibit the use of AI-generated answers. Providing answers generated by AI systems is not allowed and may result in a ban.
Rule 5: Follow guidelines and moderators' instructions.
Adhere to community guidelines and comply with instructions given by moderators.
Rule 6: Use appropriate language and tone.
Communicate using suitable language and maintain a professional and respectful tone.
Rule 7: Report violations.
Report any violations of the community rules to the moderators for appropriate action.
Rule 8: Foster a continuous learning environment.
Encourage a continuous learning environment where members can share knowledge and engage in scientific discussions.
Rule 9: Source required for answers.
Provide credible sources for answers. Failure to include a source may result in the removal of the answer to ensure information reliability.
By adhering to these rules, we create a welcoming and informative environment where science-related questions receive accurate and credible answers. Thank you for your cooperation in making the Ask Science community a valuable resource for scientific knowledge.
We retain the discretion to modify the rules as we deem necessary.
view the rest of the comments
This explains it very well: https://moon.nasa.gov/moon-in-motion/earth-and-tides/tidal-locking/
So why doesn't the moon rotate around the axis that's on the line that points from the Earth to the moon? The "Z" axis as we look into the sky?
Or does it?
Looking into the sky isn't the z axis. It's more like r from polar coordinates. Z in Cartesian coordinates goes through the polls of the moon and earth roughly.
From our point of view. Interpreting our field of view as the grid.
In that case the grid changes as you move on the surface of the earth. "Up" is relative to the center of the earth and is not the same direction in any two places. Cartesian coordinates (the usual x,y,z people think of with graphs) is difficult to use in this case.
I'm talking about staying in one spot.
The axis that the moon and earth rotate around is close to parallel. However, this axis is almost never directly "up" unless you are near the rotational poll. To visualize where this axis would be, you can look at the star Polaris or the northern star (check out a star finder app). To get a better sense of what is going on, perhaps look at a time lapse that shows how the stars move around Polaris.