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Radial gravity anomaly at the surface of the Moon in mGal. The acceleration due to gravity on the surface of the Moon is approximately 1.625 m/s 2, about 16.6% that on Earth's surface or 0.166 ɡ. [1] Over the entire surface, the variation in gravitational acceleration is about 0.0253 m/s 2 (1.6% of the acceleration due to gravity).
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite.It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have synchronized the Moon's orbital period (lunar month) with its rotation period at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth.
The percentage columns show the distance from the orbit compared to the semimajor axis. E.g. for the Moon, L 1 is 326 400 km from Earth's center, which is 84.9% of the Earth–Moon distance or 15.1% "in front of" (Earthwards from) the Moon; L 2 is located 448 900 km from Earth's center, which is 116.8% of the Earth–Moon distance or 16.8% ...
The lunar distance is on average approximately 385,000 km (239,000 mi), or 1.28 light-seconds; this is roughly 30 times Earth's diameter or 9.5 times Earth's circumference. Around 389 lunar distances make up an AU astronomical unit (roughly the distance from Earth to the Sun). Lunar distance is commonly used to express the distance to near ...
The precise strength of Earth's gravity varies with location. The agreed upon value for standard gravity is 9.80665 m/s 2 (32.1740 ft/s 2) by definition. [4] This quantity is denoted variously as gn, ge (though this sometimes means the normal gravity at the equator, 9.7803267715 m/s 2 (32.087686258 ft/s 2)), [5] g0, or simply g (which is also ...
Tidal locking results in the Moon rotating about its axis in about the same time it takes to orbit Earth. Except for libration, this results in the Moon keeping the same face turned toward Earth, as seen in the left figure. If the Moon were not rotating at all, it would alternately show its near and far sides to Earth, while moving around Earth ...
t. e. Orbital mechanics or astrodynamics is the application of ballistics and celestial mechanics to the practical problems concerning the motion of rockets, satellites, and other spacecraft. The motion of these objects is usually calculated from Newton's laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation.
Every 18.6 years, the angle between the Moon's orbit and Earth's equator reaches a maximum of 28°36′, the sum of Earth's equatorial tilt (23°27′) and the Moon's orbital inclination (5°09′) to the ecliptic. This is called major lunar standstill. Around this time, the Moon's declination will vary from −28°36′ to +28°36′.