(Although the Moon keeps the same side towards Earth, careful observations will reveal you can actually see 59% of the Moon's surface. These variations are caused by the fact that the Moon rotates at a constant rate, but travels around Earth at a variable rate, being in an elliptical orbit and moving faster when it is closer. The animation shows a set of simulated views of the Moon over one month, like a picture taken at the same time each day.
File:Moonc example.pngAlthough the Moon keeps the same side towards Earth, careful observations will reveal you can actually see 59% of the Moon's surface. These variations are caused by the fact that the Moon rotates at a constant rate, but travels around Earth at a variable rate, being in an elliptical orbit and moving faster when it is closer. The animation shows a set of simulated views of the Moon from the center of the Earth over one month, like a picture taken at the same time each day. Field: 34.1' × 39.0'
It should look like this after changes, of course animated and generated from the original images instead of smudging out the text and crosshairs. UTC font should be monospaced, so the animated times stay in the same place. Other text has been moved into the caption (and bolded for illustration), which is good for internationalization and future editability.
Heh. They can, but not perfectly. I was going to say the original should be higher resolution, and then sized down for articles. Looks like the algorithms aren't perfect, though.
