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The Moon's Orbit is WEIRD

minutephysics · explainer · Watch on YouTube

Cosmology & astrophysicsSpace exploration & spaceflightEveryday physics & science demos

What it is

A minutephysics explainer showing that the Moon's path around the Sun is not a spiral but closer to a 12-sided polygon with curved corners. It argues the Moon arguably orbits the Sun rather than the Earth.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN links it whenever the Moon's orbit comes up, as a concise explanation of why the Moon always curves toward the Sun.

  • 4 people recommended it
  • 4 different months
  • 0 strong recommendations
  • first 2024, last 2026

What HN commenters said

  1. “the video goes into more details”

    Explains the moon's orbit shape in detail.

    GuB-42, 2024-12 · Recommendation · in “Moon”

  2. “MinutePhysics did a great video on this”

    Shows the moon effectively orbits the sun.

    d1sxeyes, 2025-01 · Recommendation · in “IAC confirms existence of a Super-earth in the habitable zone of a Sun-like Star”

  3. “also mentions Earths gravitational dominance”

    Explains the moon's orbit curving toward the sun.

    nandomrumber, 2026-04 · Recommendation · in “Artemis II crew take 'spectacular' image of Earth”

  4. “I can't explain better than minute physics, highly recommend”

    Subtle explanation of the moon orbiting alongside Earth around the sun.

    lgcmo, 2026-06 · Recommendation · in “Show HN: Gravity – interactive solar-system simulator, from Newton to Einstein”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: orbital mechanics, moon, earth, solar system, gravity

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