Quote:
Originally Posted by steffanie
  I am so frustrated right now because i cannot seem to grasp this idea. I'm a smart person but i'm still lost! I appreciate you guys for replying.
I can sort of see what you guys are saying, still have difficulty with the same side facing us. Unless it turns with us as we turn an dthat just dosen't make sense to me. |
Try this. You'll need a room and a friend, or object that can serve as one.
The friend, or friend-like (FLO) object is placed in the middle of the room. You will represent the Moon. To that end, you face the FLO. On the other side of the FLO you will see a wall. This wall is now "Wall 1".
Now take one step to your right and turn as needed to keep facing your friend. Each time you take a step, adjust slightly to keep your facing consistent. Soon, you will be 25% of the way around the room.
If you don't rotate to face the FLO you will crash into a wall.
At the 1/4 mark, You should be facing a new wall. "Wall 2". Wall 1 will be to your right. Keep doing this until you end back in the original position, or near it.
Along your trip around the room, you should have had the FLO centered in your view, while the background walls kept changing. By the end of your trip, you will have seen the FLO in the foreground of every wall in the room. But the FLO will have only seen your face. Never the back of your head.
Now, step into the same place as the FLO, or as close as you can get. Spin one time, slowly, to your left, and you will see the walls pass around you in the same way they did when you "orbited" your friend.
When dealing with the real moon, the background stars are the walls, and the Earth is the Friend. During a full moon, the sun will be behind the Earth as seen from the moon. The view will be the same as on the Earth at mid-day.
During a new moon, the view will be the same from the moon, as it is from the Earth at mid-night. These two times take about two weeks to pass, so there will be a slight change because of the orbit, but from the moon, the sun will rise, move across the sky, and set, just as it does on Earth, It will just take days instead of hours to do it.
Does that help?