science: unusual Moon

Interesting facts about the Moon | Royal Museums Greenwich

Is it just a strange coincidence that the Sun and the Moon as seen from Earth appear to be approximately the same size? : r/Astronomy

The most unusual fact about the Sun-Moon-Earth distance is the incredible cosmic coincidence that the Sun is about 400 times larger than the Moon, but also about 400 times farther away, making them appear almost the exact same size in our sky, allowing for perfect total solar eclipses, a phenomenon unique in our solar system and unlikely to last forever as the Moon slowly drifts away.

Moon Facts - NASA Science

Tidal Locking - NASA Science

You’ve only ever seen half of the Moon in the sky.

Earth’s Moon rotates, but it takes precisely as long for the Moon to spin on its axis as it does to complete its monthly orbit around Earth. As a result, the Moon never turns its back to us, like a dancer circling ― but always facing ― its partner.

This phenomenon, called “synchronous tidal locking,” sounds like a weird coincidence ― but it’s actually quite common. All the solar system’s large moons are tidally locked with their planets.