how does the moon move through space ?
Quickly? In an elliptical orbit?
Since this is not my area of expertise, I searched Google under the key words "moon movement" to get these possible sources:
http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=moon+movement&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8
In the future, you can find the information you desire more quickly, if you use appropriate key words to do your own search. Also see http://hanlib.sou.edu/searchtools/.
The Moon moves through space in two main ways: its orbital motion around the Earth and its rotational motion on its own axis. Let me explain in more detail how these movements occur.
1. Orbital Motion: The Moon orbits, or revolves, around the Earth due to the gravitational force between the two. This motion follows a nearly circular path called an orbit. The Moon's orbit is not perfectly circular; it is slightly elliptical (oval-shaped) with the Earth at one of its foci. The gravitational pull from the Earth acts as a centripetal force, keeping the Moon in its orbit. This force continuously changes the direction of the Moon's velocity, causing it to move in a curved path. As a result, the Moon completes one orbit around the Earth in approximately 27.3 days, which is the same amount of time it takes to complete one rotation on its axis.
2. Rotational Motion: The Moon also rotates on its own axis, just like the Earth does. Its rotation period is the same as its orbital period, approximately 27.3 days. However, unlike the Earth, which completes one rotation in 24 hours, the Moon's rotation is slower. This means that the Moon shows the same face to the Earth at all times, a phenomenon called "tidal locking." As a result, we only see one side of the Moon from Earth, while the other side, called the "far side" or "dark side," remains hidden from our view.
In summary, the Moon moves through space by orbiting around the Earth and simultaneously rotating on its own axis.