when does the moon appear round like a ball?
Answers
The moon not only regulates the ebb and flow of the tides, but it also moderates the Earth's rotation, helping to create a stable climate. The size, shape and distance of the moon from the Earth all contribute to how the moon affects its nearest neighbor. For centuries, people have debated whether the moon is perfectly round, moderately spheroid or nonspherical. Through observation both from Earth and from various missions to the moon, scientists have been able to determine the satellite's shape.
Shape of the Moon
The moon is a spheroid, not completely round but egg-shaped, according to NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter website. The moon's shape derives from its rotation, with the large end of the egg-shape pointing toward the Earth. Not only does the moon have an irregular shape, but its center of mass is irregular as well -- it's approximately 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) out from the geometric center of the moon.
Observational Evidence
Scientists know that the moon is a spheroid because solar eclipses are always circular, meaning that the moon must be a shape that yields a relatively circular shadow. The boundary between the day and night sides of the moon, as seen from Earth, is an arc -- another shape that can only occur for a spheroid object.
Scientific Evidence
Missions to the moon, such as the Apollo, Clementine, Zond and Lunar Prospector, have provided evidence for a spheroid moon. These missions studied the topography of the moon, providing images both from orbit and from the moon's surface. The pictures from these missions showed that the moon appears to be a disk from any angle at which you examine it -- a characteristic that is only possible for an egg-shaped.
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For most of human history it was not known how big earth was or the shape of the planet. Through observations of the skies and earth-sun geometry it became more logical that the earth is round. Once satellites and space craft could see earth from space there was no doubt that the earth is round.
In examining the sun and moon in the sky they take on a disk or ball shape. Stars and planets appear more as points of light but when examined by telescope they also have the disk or ball shape. The moon is the easiest object to analyze since it is close to earth, can easily be looked at without hurting eyes and it has topography. From the shadow casting on the moon by the sun it can be concluded it must be a ball shape and not a disk.
Gravity is the attraction that holds mass together. Gravity increases as the mass of an object increases. To get a significant amount of gravity it takes a very large object such as a moon or planet but even the smallest objects have some gravity. Since gravity acts from all directions the shape of least resistance is a ball. From space earth appears as a rather smooth ball. On the surface though we notice significant topographic and elevation changes. Gravity over time tries to even out these changes but other forces are able to counter gravity such as the uplift produced when tectonic plates collide.
If a theoretical planet could be a square or triangle shape the edges would be eroded by gravity over time since they are weak points in the shape. Over time the object will become more and more circular.
Earth is not a perfect ball. The main reason for this is because of the earth's spin. When laundry is in the spin cycle you notice the clothes go out to the edges of the washing machine. The spin of the earth puts extra force on the equatorial regions thus the shape of earth slightly bulges outward at the equator. The shape of earth is described as an oblate spheroid.
full moon is the lunar phase when the Moon appears fully illuminated from Earth's point of view. This occurs when Earth is located between the Sun and the Moon . it roughly occurs every month
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