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Re: Moon's synchronism



I won't have time to check David Bowman's calculation, but I want to
comment on one aspect that might not be clear to all. The present state of
the Earth-Moon system is one of approximate steady state. Tidal energy is
still being dissipated in the Moon (though more is being dissipated in the
Earth). The libration won't stop because the system is being perturbed by
tidal interaction with the Sun which prevents circularization and
disinclination of the Moon's orbit. Only with circularization *and*
disinclination could the libration be completely damped. Libration will
continue even though many times the energy invested in this motion is
dissipated in lunar tides.

Leigh