Ever wonder how long a day is on our moon?
The day on any celestial body is defined by its rotation along its own axis (if there is any). Therefore, as the Earth rotates around itself in 24 hours, our one full day is equal to 24 hours. But our moon, rotates around its axis very slowly compared to the Earth. In fact its one rotation equals its one revolution around the Earth. It takes 29.5 earth days for the moon to complete its one rotation. And so one day on moon is equal to 29.5 earth days. And we can say that half of it would be a day and the other half its night.
Another result of moon's rotation being as long as its revolution is that we, here on earth, always get to see the same side of the moon giving the other side of the moon its name "Far Side of the moon" (previously called Dark side of the moon; but that is wrong because it also gets the sunlight as the moon rotates).
The day on any celestial body is defined by its rotation along its own axis (if there is any). Therefore, as the Earth rotates around itself in 24 hours, our one full day is equal to 24 hours. But our moon, rotates around its axis very slowly compared to the Earth. In fact its one rotation equals its one revolution around the Earth. It takes 29.5 earth days for the moon to complete its one rotation. And so one day on moon is equal to 29.5 earth days. And we can say that half of it would be a day and the other half its night.
Another result of moon's rotation being as long as its revolution is that we, here on earth, always get to see the same side of the moon giving the other side of the moon its name "Far Side of the moon" (previously called Dark side of the moon; but that is wrong because it also gets the sunlight as the moon rotates).
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