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Moon's center of mass
Hi,
What is the process which caused the Moon's 2 Km center-of-mass/center-of-figure offset? Thanks, Vvega |
#2
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Moon's center of mass
Earth.
-- "In this universe the night was falling,the shadows were lengthening towards an east that would not know another dawn. But elsewhere the stars were still young and the light of morning lingered: and along the path he once had followed, man would one day go again." Arthur C. Clarke, The City & The Stars SIAR www.starlords.org Bishop's Car Fund http://www.bishopcarfund.Netfirms.com/ Freelance Writers Shop http://www.freelancewrittersshop.netfirms.com Telescope Buyers FAQ http://home.inreach.com/starlord "vvega" wrote in message .. . Hi, What is the process which caused the Moon's 2 Km center-of-mass/center-of-figure offset? Thanks, Vvega |
#3
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Moon's center of mass
It is the Earth's Tidal Forces.
"Starlord" wrote in message ... Earth. SIAR www.starlords.org Bishop's Car Fund http://www.bishopcarfund.Netfirms.com/ Freelance Writers Shop http://www.freelancewrittersshop.netfirms.com Telescope Buyers FAQ http://home.inreach.com/starlord "vvega" wrote in message .. . Hi, What is the process which caused the Moon's 2 Km center-of-mass/center-of-figure offset? Thanks, Vvega |
#4
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Moon's center of mass
"Red Dragon" wrote in message
... It is the Earth's Tidal Forces. The tidal bulges raised on the Moon by the Earth are symmetric (or at lease VERY nearly so) and are not responsible for the offset. The Moon actually has a permanent bulge on its far side (separate and apart from the tidal bulges) that accounts for the offset. Consider a perfectly spherical Moon of uniform density. For this Moon the Centre of Mass (CoM) and the Geometric Centre (GC) will coincide. Now lets tack on a bulge on the far side. the change in the GC of the Moon will be in proportion to the height of the bulge, the change in the CoM of the Moon will be in proportion to Mass(bulge)/Mass(Original Moon). It is the difference in these two values that accounts for the 2km offset between the CoM and the GC. -- Cheers John Zinni |
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